Original articlesHelicobacter pylori–associated iron-deficiency anemia in adolescent female athletes☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Study Population
We selected 2 coeducational schools: a general high school and a physical education high school. Blood sampling and a questionnaire survey were performed; 660 subjects who met the study requirements were enrolled. Criteria for enrollment included no history of significant diseases such as infectious or gastrointestinal bleeding disorders, and menorrhagia in girls. Of these, 440 (228 boys and 212 girls) were regular high school students and nonathletes, and 220 (148 boys and 72 girls) were
Measurement of IDA Parameters and Serum H pylori IgG Antibody
The ages of the 660 subjects ranged from 15 to 17 years (mean age, 15.9 years). The prevalence rates of anemia, IDA, and H pylori infection in athletes were higher than those of the control group (Table I).Empty Cell Number (% positive) P value Athletes (n = 220) Control group (n = 440) Anemia 32 (14.6) 42 (9.6) .05 IDA 18 (8.2) 24 (5.5) .176 H pylori infection 95 (43.2) 100 (22.7) .001 H
DISCUSSION
Our results show that pubescent female athletes are likely to have H pylori -associated IDA. Their environments, involving extended stays at training camps, overcrowding, and poor hygiene, expose them to H pylori infection. In other words, H pylori infection exacerbates the iron deficit in adolescent female athletes whose iron supply is marginal.
H pylori is acquired primarily early in life. Although there is debate as to whether residency in an institution or a nursing home beginning at an
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to the parents for allowing their sons and daughters to participate in this study, to the schoolteachers for helping us execute our study, and to Ji Sun Lee for nutritional analysis.
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Supported by a grant from the Korea Research Foundation (KRF-99-003-F00181).
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Reprint requests: Yon Ho Choe, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-ku, Seoul, 135-710, Korea.