The Iron Conundrum Workshop

On February 27-28, 2017, researchers and research users, namely professionals, community-based support workers for people with disabilities, individuals living with FASD, and parents/caregivers came together to exchange knowledge and created the research agenda in order to approach the clinical challenge of iron deficiency. As a starting point, we decided to perform two scoping reviews (see below) and created a local/national and international network called the Iron Conundrum Research Consortium.

Scoping Review I: Iron Deficiency & Neurodevelopmental Conditions.
Scoping Review II: Iron Deficiency & Sleep.

ID is known to be closely associated with aggravated ADHD-like symptoms, tics and mental health conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive behaviours. There is also a causal relationship between ID, intractable insomnia and restless legs syndrome (RLS). Our team has previously shown that RLS is frequently misdiagnosed as ADHD in children with FASD, and that FASD patients are at particular risk for polypharmacological management (2015).

In our experience, the majority of these children can be successfully treated with iron supplementation, resolving their insomnia due to RLS and significantly reducing the need for psychotropic medications. These findings suggest a critical need to improve our understanding of the complex relationships between ID, insomnia, and other symptoms of brain-based disability. See the pitch of the RAs, Wayne Leung and Ishmeet Singh and their posters.

Additional Achievements: Successfully awarded a CIHR grant for exploring risk factors for iron deficiency in Elsipogtog First Nation; ongoing application to KBHN: H-Behaviours & Iron Conundrum: Developing Tools to Decode Disruptive Behaviours.