Iron-Deficiency Anemia is Associated with Altered Characteristics of Sleep Spindles in NREM Sleep in Infancy

✍ Scribed by Patricio Peirano; Cecilia Algarín; Marcelo Garrido; Diógenes Algarín; Betsy Lozoff

• Book ID: 106483750
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 183 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0364-3190
• DOI: 10.1007/s11064-007-9396-8

✦ Synopsis

Objective:

To determine the effects of iron-deficiency anemia on the development of non-rapid-eye-movement (nrem) sleep stages, as indexed by sleep spindles.

Study design:

Patterns of sleep spindles during nrem sleep stages 2 and 3-4 (slow-wave-sleep, sws) were compared in 26 otherwise healthy 6-month-old chilean infants with iron-deficiency anemia and 18 non-anemic control infants. from polygraphic recordings, eeg activity was analyzed for sleep spindles to assess their number (density), duration, frequency, and inter-spindle interval.

Results:

Iron-deficient anemic infants differed from the control group by having sleep spindles with reduced density, lower frequency, and longer inter-spindle intervals in nrem sleep stage 2 and sws.

Conclusions:

These results provide evidence of delayed sleep spindle patterns in iron-deficient anemic infants, suggesting that iron is an essential micronutrient for the normal progression of nrem sleep pattern development in the human.