Über saisonabhängige schwankungen des hämoglobins, des serumeisens und des transferring bei schuljungen und -mädchen in der pubertät

Abstract

In 60 school-boys and 60 school-girls aged 16 year we examined the variations in Hb, serum Fe and transferrin, in October, January and April. The result were compared with the seasonal variations in all mean Hb values measured in the laboratory during these periods. Both the boys and girls examind and the mean Hb values of the laboratory present a seasonal change, a rise in autumn, a fall in winter and a fresh rise in spring being characteristic. In boys and girls at the age of puberty this variation is pronounced and in most cases also mathematically significant. From this it may be concluded that the changes in Hb are not provoked by the age of the school-children nor by some peculiarity in their mode of living, but that a cause spread among the whole population should be held responsible for them. The value of the serum Fe is lower in boys than in girls of the same age. The serum Fe level in girls shows a slighter progressive rise, that in boys a variation in two periods, with a maximum in January. Corresponding with the transferrin content of the blood, iron deficiency could be assumed in 35% of the girls in October, in 15% in January and in 3% in April, in 11% of the boys in October, in 1.6% in January and in 3% in April. However, the state of deficiency proved to be of a non-permanent nature, for the pathological values gradually diminished during the period of examination. Only in one case, in which the Hb was low and the transferrin high, was it possible to speak of a patent iron deficiency. In the other cases, a latent state of deficiency could be concluded from the increased transferrin concentration only. From October to January, Hb and transferrin fall in parallel, from which it follows that the drop in Hb in January is due not only to a Fe deficiency but also to other, as yet unknown, causes.