[The influence of green tea upon the improvement of iron deficiency anemia with pregnancy treated by sodium ferrous citrate].

Green tea is indispensable to our everyday life. In Japan it has long been common knowledge that the ingestion of green tea should be avoided before and after the intake of iron preparations. There have recently been some reports, however, that deny the effect of green tea on iron preparations. A study was conducted on pregnant patients with anemia, using sodium ferrous citrate (Ferromia). The drug was administered to a group of patients taking green tea and a group taking water. Our results can be summarized as follows. 1. Hemoglobin, serum iron and total iron binding capacity were markedly improved after the administration of the iron preparation, and there was no difference between these parameters in the two groups of patients. 2. There was a tendency for patients with hypochromia to show a more marked improvement in hemoglobin in both groups. 3. Anemia cured in 96.7% of patients in the green tea group and in 93.4% of patients in the water group after the oral administration of the iron preparation. 4. The incidence of side effects stood at 18.3% for the green tea group and 21.9% for the water group, there being no significant difference. No serious side effects were elicited in the present study.