Impact Of Daily Versus Alternate Day And Once Weekly Iron Therapy : On Hemoglobin Rise & Iron Status

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world.The WHO recommends large-scale programs of daily iron supplementation to reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency.The effectiveness of this intervention is often poor because of undesirable side effects of the iron supplements.The present study is an important step in this direction and proved that alternate day therapy is superior to daily therapy because of fewer side effects, lesser drop rate, but with longer duration of treatment. Weekly supplementation may be recommended only in situations where needed long compliance could be assured.