[Health] Iron deficiency in the news today
I recently posted about iron deficiency anemia in women.
MSN today features a "news" story that recommends women take a supplement to prevent iron deficiency anemia, a "hidden disease that could be causing your day to day fatigue as a woman."
I was appalled at MSN's presentation of a thinly veiled commercial as news.
http://en.video.sympatico.ca/index.php/en/video/lifestyle/8/more-lifestyle/20/everyday-tips/128/constantly-tired/812042509001
The advert starts by an Everywoman telling us her story about how tired she was after doing all the things Modern Woman do today - "The modern women - she cooks, cleans, is there for her family, makes time for her friends, the gym, and favorite activities. It's a fufilling lifestyle, but one that can often leave her feeling fatigued."
Yes. Doing all that, on top of working to support said family, will leave a person tired. That's normal. (Resisting side rant on how working for a living was NOT mentioned in this commercial, and the Superwoman issue).
The *snort* news story continues to show a beautiful serious looking women sitting demurely on an exam table while a women is lecturing her. One assumes this women is supposed to be a doctor. She is then introduced as a naturopathic doctor AND registered midwife, who goes on to tell us that 25% of women are not getting enough iron in their diet, and what iron is for. She refers to the "period between which you become a woman and go through menopause" as the times we are at risk for this. Ie. a veiled reference to the problem being menstruation. She goes into detail on what blood tests to ask for to see if you have this disease (Ferritin versus Hemoglobin), so you can check yourself out. How to fix it? She prescribes supplement product X over what doctors would prescribe, because of X, Y, and Z reasons.
We then hop back to the patient testimonial woman, who chirps out "Within days after taking product X, my energy levels shot up."
Problem. Iron takes MONTHS to slowly absorb into your system. Anyone who has been prescribed said iron knows that you are to take it for at least three months before your doctor will even bother to reorder the blood test to see if it's gone up at all. Thus feeling more energetic? A placebo effect.
The story wraps up with the naturopathic doctor earnestly telling us supplement X beats out the normal prescription iron due to X and Y, and that for any more questions on the subject, to go to website www.requiredforlife.com.
Care to take a wild guess at what this website is for? You got it, it's a product page for the supplement, featuring where to buy it, the one study they did with an n of only 41 that shows that their product will also slowly increase ferritin levels, and more product information.
So, between the stereotyping, the protrayal of justifyable fatigue after a long day of responsibilities being a failing of some kind, and the fact this was presented in "Health Tips" news area on MSN when it was in fact a partisan sponsored commercial? MSN, you fail.
Oh, critical thinking and media.
MSN today features a "news" story that recommends women take a supplement to prevent iron deficiency anemia, a "hidden disease that could be causing your day to day fatigue as a woman."
I was appalled at MSN's presentation of a thinly veiled commercial as news.
http://en.video.sympatico.ca/index.php/en/video/lifestyle/8/more-lifestyle/20/everyday-tips/128/constantly-tired/812042509001
The advert starts by an Everywoman telling us her story about how tired she was after doing all the things Modern Woman do today - "The modern women - she cooks, cleans, is there for her family, makes time for her friends, the gym, and favorite activities. It's a fufilling lifestyle, but one that can often leave her feeling fatigued."
Yes. Doing all that, on top of working to support said family, will leave a person tired. That's normal. (Resisting side rant on how working for a living was NOT mentioned in this commercial, and the Superwoman issue).
The *snort* news story continues to show a beautiful serious looking women sitting demurely on an exam table while a women is lecturing her. One assumes this women is supposed to be a doctor. She is then introduced as a naturopathic doctor AND registered midwife, who goes on to tell us that 25% of women are not getting enough iron in their diet, and what iron is for. She refers to the "period between which you become a woman and go through menopause" as the times we are at risk for this. Ie. a veiled reference to the problem being menstruation. She goes into detail on what blood tests to ask for to see if you have this disease (Ferritin versus Hemoglobin), so you can check yourself out. How to fix it? She prescribes supplement product X over what doctors would prescribe, because of X, Y, and Z reasons.
We then hop back to the patient testimonial woman, who chirps out "Within days after taking product X, my energy levels shot up."
Problem. Iron takes MONTHS to slowly absorb into your system. Anyone who has been prescribed said iron knows that you are to take it for at least three months before your doctor will even bother to reorder the blood test to see if it's gone up at all. Thus feeling more energetic? A placebo effect.
The story wraps up with the naturopathic doctor earnestly telling us supplement X beats out the normal prescription iron due to X and Y, and that for any more questions on the subject, to go to website www.requiredforlife.com.
Care to take a wild guess at what this website is for? You got it, it's a product page for the supplement, featuring where to buy it, the one study they did with an n of only 41 that shows that their product will also slowly increase ferritin levels, and more product information.
So, between the stereotyping, the protrayal of justifyable fatigue after a long day of responsibilities being a failing of some kind, and the fact this was presented in "Health Tips" news area on MSN when it was in fact a partisan sponsored commercial? MSN, you fail.
Oh, critical thinking and media.