Weekly versus daily oral iron administration: are we asking the right questions?

The separation of oral iron doses to conform to cycle of intestinal mucosa turnover has been suggested by some as a method to improve the efficiency of uptake for therapeutic doses of iron. A short-term study in healthy American women failed to confirm a superior absorption of radioiron with a 7-day interval versus everyday administration of a 50-mg iron dose, but the iron status of the experimental subjects may have produced an inappropriate population on which to test a question relevant to Third World populations.