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Query: UMLS:C0002871 (anemia)
 52,094 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Geophagy has been associated with iron deficiency and anaemia, but no causal relationship has been established. To clarify this, we conducted a two-by-two factorial randomised, controlled trial on the effect of iron and multimicronutrient supplementation on geophagy in Zambian schoolchildren in Lusaka, from February to December 2001. Of the 406 children, 212 (52.2%) were girls and the mean (range) age was 10.2 (7-15) years. Geophagy was reported by 302 (74.4%) and more often in girls than in boys (80.2 vs. 67.7%, P = 0.007). The mean (range) daily earth intake was 25.2 (1-200) g. Geophageous children had more often geophageous relatives than non-geophageous children (79.5 vs. 1.9%, P < 0.001). Geophageous children had lower serum ferritin (20.5 vs. 25.0 microg/l, P = 0.032) but not haemoglobin (Hb) (129.2 vs. 130.4 g/l, P = 0.59), than non-geophageous. Among those with Hb < 130 g/l, geophageous children had significantly higher prevalence (53.7 vs. 30.6%, P = 0.024) of Ascaris lumbricoides infection than non-geophageous. The prevalence of geophagy (74.4 to 51.6%) and the intake of earth (25.3 to 15.0 g/day) declined (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively) among the 220 (54.2%) children followed-up. In bivariate analysis, non-iron supplementation reduced the prevalence of geophagy more than iron supplementation did, but this was not confirmed in the multiple logistic regression analysis. Multimicronutrients had no effect on either geophagy prevalence or earth intake. Geophagy was prevalent and associated with iron deficiency, but iron supplementation had no effects on geophageous behaviour. Geophagy could be a copied behaviour and the association between geophagy and iron deficiency due to impaired iron absorption following earth eating.
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PMID:Effects of iron and multimicronutrient supplementation on geophagy: a two-by-two factorial study among Zambian schoolchildren in Lusaka. 1504 60

This paper presents a school-based deworming program carried out from 2001-2005. It began with baseline studies in 2001 which indicated that intestinal helminth infection was endemic among schoolchildren with a prevalence of 80%in shantytown schools and 53% in apartment district schools. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most frequently detected helminth (45%), followed by Trichuris trichiura (25-30%) and Hymenolepsis nana (10-15%) and Taenia species (5%). Also school children were very much affected by nutritional deficiencies such as prevalence of stunting (24%), underweight (25%) and anemia (45%). The parasite control project was begun in 2002 in which 40.000 school children were treated with a single dose of 500 mg mebendazole. This was followed by delivery of 100.000 doses of mebendazole to the school children during the 2003-2004 school-years. During the 2004-2005 school-years, 120.000 primary schoolchildren, 20.000 high school children, 10.00 rural schoolchildren and 50.000 women and children (1-7 years old) were treated with mebendazole for helminth infections. In October-2005, stool examinations were carried out again in the shantytown and apartment district schools and it was found that the prevalence of infection had declined to 35% in shantytown schools and 6.4% in apartment district schools. The rate of Ascaris lumbricoides infection had fallen to 17%, with the rate of Trichuris trichiura to 1% and that of Taenia species to 0%. In contrast, the rate of Hymenolepsis nana had increased to 21%. These results indicated that parasite control program was successful and should be continued.
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PMID:[The results of a control program carried out on school children for intestinal parasites in Sanliurfa province, Turkey between the years of 2001 and 2005]. 1710 54

Geophagy, the regular and deliberate consumption of soil, is prevalent among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the associations of geophagy with anemia and helminth infection among 971 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive pregnant women in Tanzania. About 29% of pregnant women regularly consumed soil. Occupation, marital status, and gestational age were associated with geophagy. Ascaris lumbricoides infection was associated with the prevalence of geophagy (adjusted-prevalence ratio 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37-2.40); however, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, and Strongyloides stercoralis showed no association. Anemia and red blood cell characteristics suggestive of iron deficiency were strongly correlated with geophagy at baseline. In longitudinal analyses, we found evidence suggesting that soil consumption may be associated with an increased risk of anemia (adjusted-relative risk 1.16; 95% CI = 0.98-1.36) and a lower hemoglobin concentration (adjusted-mean difference -3.8 g/L; 95% CI [-7.3, -0.4]). Pregnant women should be informed about the potential risks associated with soil consumption.
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PMID:Geophagy (Soil-eating) in relation to Anemia and Helminth infection among HIV-infected pregnant women in Tanzania. 1914 37