Elemental Iron Content in Ferrous Fumarate 27 mg
Ferrous fumarate 27 mg contains approximately 9 mg of elemental iron.
Calculation Method
- Ferrous fumarate contains approximately 33% elemental iron by weight 1
- To calculate elemental iron content: 27 mg × 0.33 = approximately 9 mg of elemental iron 1
Context: Standard Ferrous Fumarate Formulations
- The standard therapeutic dose of ferrous fumarate is 210 mg, which contains 69 mg of elemental iron 1
- A 305 mg ferrous fumarate tablet contains 100 mg of elemental iron 2
- A 100 mg ferrous fumarate tablet contains approximately 33 mg of elemental iron 3
Clinical Relevance of This Dose
- This 27 mg ferrous fumarate dose (providing ~9 mg elemental iron) is substantially below the therapeutic range for treating iron deficiency anemia 1, 4
- The recommended therapeutic range is 50-100 mg of elemental iron once daily for treating iron deficiency anemia 1, 4
- Low-dose prophylactic iron supplementation (20-60 mg elemental iron daily) is used in pregnancy to prevent iron deficiency, not to treat established anemia 5
Important Prescribing Consideration
- When prescribing iron supplementation, both the salt form (ferrous fumarate) and the dose should be specified, as elemental iron content varies significantly between different iron preparations 1
- A 27 mg ferrous fumarate dose would be considered a very low prophylactic dose, not suitable for treating established iron deficiency anemia 3, 5