Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
Folic acid is a stable, synthetic form of the vitamin folate. Taking folic acid around the time of conception lowers the chance of neural tube birth defects (NTDs). Many countries have added folic acid to flour and other foods. These fortification programs have been linked with large drops in NTDs,…
In healthy adults from the general population, we found a significant and robust association between depression and anemia. Further studies are needed to assess the longitudinal relationship between both conditions and determine the mechanisms underlying this association.
This observational study measured blood ferritin (a marker of iron stores) and depressive symptoms in 312 men and 216 women working in two Japanese municipal offices. In men, lower ferritin levels were linked to higher odds of depressive symptoms, with a significant trend across ferritin quartiles. No clear link was…
This online survey of 1,010 Swiss women (age 18–50, mean 33.5) with a recent blood-test diagnosis of iron deficiency found very high rates of tiredness and reduced energy, common initial misdiagnosis, and measurable work absence. When the authors scaled the results to the Swiss population (assuming a 9.5% annual incidence…
Using NHANES data from August 2021 to August 2023, the report found that 9.3% of people age 2 and older in the United States had anemia. Rates were higher in females (13.0%) than males (5.5%). Anemia was more common in older adults, in Black people, and in people with lower…
