Iron Deficiency Anemia and Its Effect On The Central Nervous System
Abstract
Micro and macro nutrients are crucially important in the body. Iron functions as a very important micronutrient in the body. It helps in the central nervous system as a cofactor in the process of energy metabolism, synthesis in the transmission of the neurons. It also helps in the myelination process- a process that develops the myelin important for skin protection. Iron is also very important in tissue functions such as oxygen transportation and energy synthesis. Iron deficiency is the state of inefficient iron quantities in the body. Iron deficiency anemia is the severe deficieny state. It results in cognitive and psychomotor impairment among infants. These effects in the CNS can only be diagnosed in the later stages. The technique used is the observation of the auditory brainstem of the infants. The deficiency can be corrected through Iron supplementation. It can be corrected through the consumption of supplement, iron elements and proper diets. Pregnant women are advised to ensure they consume enough iron elements in their diet. ABR technique can effectively be used to monitor the development.
Introduction
The human body requires several micronutrient and macronutrients for proper function. Iron is one of the most important micronutrients that the body requires. It serves not only at the system level, but also function at the level of specific tissues in the body system. Gremmiger et al asserts that it is very important to explore the importance of iron in the body and also investigate the effect of its deficiency in the body's development. The composition of iron supplements and its function in the human body is very important.
The specific function of iron particles involves its role in the Central nervous system where it serves as an enzyme cofactor in the process of energy metabolism. Here it forms part of the red blood cell, and also helps in the process of red blood cell development. In the same metabolism process it helps in the conversion of blood sugar to energy. Another function of Iron elements in the CNS is in the myelinogenesis the process of developing myelin in the body. It also synthesized in the transmission of the body neurons (Lou et al, 73).
Studies conducted by J Lou et al, in the Chinese set up, proved that prenatal iron deficiency may adversely affects the functional status of the auditory system in full-term healthy infants, with effects observed throughout much of the 1st year of life. For instance, in their findings they realized that those infants whose mothers were anemic at the first trimester had longer longer latency wave. However, there was no correlation between maternal anemia and ABR at 10 months with the samples used. This was realized with low latency wave 1 which potentially predicts a longer latency at wave 5. There is no correlation in blood cord serum Ferrittin at 3 months of infancy. They generally accepted that inter-peak latency changes relate to the increase in conduction velocity during myelination that occurs in the axon, a fact which was also generally accepted by other researchers such as Allison R. et al in their study using the rat as the animal cohort. Their study also agreed with the hypothesis that there is little or no correlation between the adverse effects on ABR and late pregnancy anemia .
ID Anemia is the severe deficiency state of iron as a micronutrient in the body. This condition cannot be easily diagnosed at the early stages of development until it severely affects the young ones. These adverse effects can only be manifested only at the later stages, they can never be diagnosed at the marginal stages. IDA shows very significant effects on neurons involved in the transmission of receptors during early stages of iron deficiency which proves the deficits in both the pathways that excites the CNS pathways and those that inhibits pathways of central nervous system. The increase in GABA transmitters with the decrease in the glutamerate may result in an irreversible psychomotor developmental disorders and impaired cognitive abilities among the infants. The situation begins at the onset of depletion of the stored iron in the body. Continuous depletion of the stored elements then result in a severe state of the body lacking iron elements.
Such findings have also been backed up by other studies to show that IDA results in a decrease in myocardial adrenaline levels that has been related to increase in size of cardiac muscle cells. This affects the body function in a twofold way; it may reduce the amount of oxygen transported to the respiratory cells for energy metabolism. Again, it can result in reduced oxygen consumption capacity of the muscles. It has also been shown that IDA has a very link close to physical malfunctions, it often results in impairment of the CNS transmission neurons and receptors. This may result in cases of speech disorder or deform body skeleton structure.
Iron Deficiency Anemia cannot be diagnosed in the early stages of development. No casualties have been witnessed at such stages. However, researchers have developed several techniques to help in the diagnosis process. One of the most common technique used is the use of Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) (Lou et al, 73).
ABR is a process that objectively used without the invasion of the CNS cells to provide information on the thresholds of audition and transmission of messages from the brainstem to the higher auditory cortex. It assesses the development of the CNS of the fetus as it grows. The techniques uses latencies in the trimester of the fetus during development (Lee et al, 5015). The studies suggest that the latencies or the speed of transmission decreases with increase in the life development periods of the offsprings. This show elements of the CNS being myelinated in the course of development.
Berglund in his study found that prolonged ABR cases into the life of the offspring can be a signal to the impairment in the CNS. ABR helps to report the maturity stage of the brain of the offspring to establish the consequences associated with the ID. Lack of knowledge on how to analyze the onset of the condition forces the use of birth codes like the umbilical cord and or the blood shed at the time of birth. Several studies using animals such as rats has proven that when a fetus is exposed to Iron deficiency during the later stages of pregnancy, the ABR remains normal in the offspring, even if the offspring is highly anemic and displays a low birth weight. On the other hand, studies also show that the ABR will significantly be affected by an exposure that occur at the beginning of pregnancy. Other techniques used include marking the CNS with Ferritin for the homeostasis process as a surrogate marker. Such studies have shown that IDA has a prolonged effect on the ABR of the infants and result in impaired responses (Gelein, 5010),.
The other indicators may include low birth weight among children. Research shows that those who are born with less than 2500g in weight are at a greater risk of suffering from the condition. This group is considered to have suffered low iron intake in the first trimester of their development as a result of depletion of iron in the stores and because they were developing very rapidly (Berglund et al, 608). The most common way to manage these cases is through the iron supplements. Proper management of cuts and wounds can also help to avoid the loss of Iron through bleeding and blood loss.
Conclusion
Iron Deficiency Anemia has a strong relation with the brain development among infants. It results in poor development of mental cognitivity. It can be corrected thorugh the consumption of supplement iron elements and proper diets. Pregnant women are advised to ensure they consume enough iron elements in their diet. ABR technique can effectively be used to monitor the development. Iron Deficiency Anemia has an irreversible impact on the CNS. The condition can be corrected through proper supplement diet and keen fetal development monitoring among the pregnant women. Iron Deficiency Anemia is for sure a world crisis that needs to be handled and managed on a proper scale to avert the cases and casualties that result from this epidemic. More researches should be conducted on the relation of iron deficiency anemia and its effect on the human central nervous systems. Consequently, more precaution should be taken to help in curing the impacts of the iron deficiency in the body.
Work cited
Gremmiger, A. & Proschel-Mayer, M. Identifying the Threshold of Iron Deficiency in the Central Nervous System of the Rat by the Auditory Brainstem Response. ASN Neuro. 2015 Jan-Feb; 7(1): 1759091415569911. .
Lou, J., Mai, L., Zhao, Z. & Shao, J. Prenatal Iron Deficiency and Auditory Brainstem Responses at 3 and 10 Months: A Pilot Study. HK J Paediatr (new series)2015;20:71-79
Berglund, S., Westrup, B., Haradldsson, E. and Domellof, M. Effects of Iron Supplementation on Auditory Brainstem Response in Marginally LBW Infants. Pediatric Research (2011) 70, 601–606; doi:10.1203/PDR.0b013e3182320cd0
Lee, D., Strathmann, F., Gelein R. & Walton, J. Iron Deficiency Disrupts Axon Maturation of the Developing Auditory Nerve. The Journal of Neuroscience, April 4, 2012• 32(14):5010 – 5015
Gelein, R. et al. Iron Deficiency Disrupts Axon Maturation of the Developing Auditory Nerve. 2016. J Neurosci. 2012 April 4; 32(14): 5010–5015. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0526- 12.2012
