Emblica Officinalis (Amloki) – Could Be the Remedy for Side Effects of Iron Supplementation in Pregnancy

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional disorder in pregnancy in developing countries. Different iron preparations are supplemented to treat IDA in pregnancy, which can lead to different side effects like nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, constipation or diarrohea, hyperacidity. Emblica officinalis is a well known traditional fruit to reduce these side effects. Aim: To determine the side effects of iron supplementation and beneficial role of amloki in pregnancy to reduce these side effects.Methods and materials: This interventional study was done in the Department of Physiology, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from July 2016 to June 2017. From the Outpatient Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, 46 pregnant women were selected purposively on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Anaemic pregnant women supplemented with oral iron and amloki were considered as study groups (Group A) and pregnant women supplemented with only iron for 45 days were considered as control group (Group B). A previously formed structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the subjective complaints. Chi-square test was performed to compare between the groups. The test of significance was calculated & p value < 0.05 was accepted as level of significance. Results: Significant improvement in different subjective parameters nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, constipation, hyperacidity (p<0.001), were seen in iron and amloki supplemented group. Conclusions: It can be concluded that, amloki supplementation along with iron can reduce the side effects of iron and improve the subjective complains of the iron deficient anemic pregnant women.