Effectiveness of anemia herbal formula containing curcuma zanthorrhiza, elephantopus scaber and amaranthus tricolor in iron deficiency anemia patients

Abstract

Anemia becomes one of the major health problems. Iron supplements often cause discomfort in the digestive tract and it had been related to low compliance. Further research is needed on herbal formulas that have the potential to be complementary or alternative therapies for iron deficiency anemia which is safe and not interfere with digestive tract. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of anemia herbal formula containing Curcuma zanthorrhiza Roxb., Elephantopus scaber, and Amaranthus tricolor compared with iron supplement in Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) participants. A total of 128 participants with IDA were recruited and randomly assigned into anemia herbal formula (AH) (n=64) and iron supplement (IS) (n=64). Outcome measures were assessed 4 weeks after intervention. The outcomes of this study were hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), and quality of life (QOL) by using short form-36 (SF-36). After 28 days of intervention, there was an increase of Hb, MCV, SI values, and SF-36 scores and a decrease of TIBC values in both groups. Significant differences were found in the mean of Hb, MCV, and SI (p<0,05), the higher values were found in IS group. Significant difference also occurred in the mean of TIBC, the SI group had lower value than AH group. In contrast, no significant difference in the mean of quality of life scores between two groups. Anemia herbal formula proved to be an effective complementary therapy by improving QOL in IDA patients.