Anemia management in non-menopausal women in a primary care setting: a prospective evaluation of clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to analyze anemia management in non-pregnant, and non-menopausal women aged from 18 to 50 years old, in a French primary care setting. METHODS: An observational descriptive prospective study was conducted between November 2018 and February 2019. Inclusion criteria were as followed: anemia diagnosed in women aged from 18 to 50, not pregnant and not menopausal. Quantitative and qualitative data were anonymized and collected through an electronic survey. Investigating general practitioners completed the questionnaire for each newly diagnosed woman. Mean values and medians were calculated for the quantitative data. Answers to the open questions were encoded manually and proportions of the different modalities have been calculated. RESULTS: Altogether, 43 women with anemia were ascertained. Moderate microcytic anemia, due to an iron deficiency in a context of menorrhagia, was the most observed anemia profile. The mean value of hemoglobin was 10.5 ± 1 g/dl. Among these women: 32 (74%) presented an iron deficiency, 17 (53%) had inappropriate intakes, and 9 (28%) reported menorrhagia. For 17 (40%) women, unnecessary or inappropriate exams were prescribed. The investigations did not allow to establish a differential diagnosis for 12 women (28%). Even for similar clinical situations, anemia management was variable. Among the women who presented iron deficiency, 15 (47%) were informed about an iron-rich diet and received a daily iron supplementation of ferrous sulfate between 80 mg and 160 mg. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights that, in the absence of specific national guidelines for anemia management in non-pregnant, non-menopausal women in primary care settings, French GPs undergo various clinical management strategies leading to a heterogeneous, sometimes inappropriate follow-up. Women with iron deficiency were prescribed higher daily iron supplementation than recommended, according to new evidence, suggesting a maximal daily dose of 50 mg of elementary iron in a context of Hepcidin up-regulation in the case of an iron overload. Additional longitudinal studies with a bigger sample size and randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm our results and to elaborate national guidelines.

CFH Y402H and ARMS2 A69S Polymorphisms and Oral Supplementation with Docosahexaenoic Acid in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Patients: The NAT2 Study.

PURPOSE: Genetic susceptibility could be modified by environmental factors and may also influence differential responses to treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We investigated whether genotype could influence response to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-supplementation in the occurrence of choroidal new vessels (CNV). METHODS: The Nutritional AMD Treatment 2 (NAT2) study was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel, comparative study, including 250 patients aged 55 to 85 years with early lesions of age-related maculopathy, visual acuity better than 0.4 Logarithm of Minimum Angle of Resolution units in the study eye and neovascular AMD in the fellow eye. Patients were randomized at baseline to receive either 3 daily fish-oil capsules, each containing 280 mg DHA, 90 mg EPA and 2 mg Vitamin E, or placebo. RESULTS: Patients carrying the risk allele (C) for CFH Y402H had no statistically significant increased risk for developing CNV in the study eye (Hazard Ratio (HR)=0.97; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.54-1.76 for heterozygous and HR=1.29; 95%CI: 0.69-2.40 for homozygous). Patients carrying the risk allele (T) for ARMS2 A69S had no statistically significant increased risk for developing CNV in the study eye (HR=1.68; 95%CI: 0.91-3.12) for heterozygous and HR=1.78; 95%CI: 0.90-3.52 for homozygous). A significant interaction was observed between CFH Y402H and DHA-supplementation (p=0.01). We showed a protective effect of DHA-supplementation among homozygous non-risk patients. Among these patients, occurrence of CNV was 38.2% in placebo group versus 16.7% in DHA group (p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that a genetic predisposition to AMD conferred by the CFH Y402H variant limits the benefit provided by DHA supplementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry 98246501.