Danger level: Medium

What is it?

Iron deficiency anemia is a type of anemia caused by a lack of iron in the body.

Who gets it?

Iron deficiency anemia is common. In the United States it affects about 1-2% of people.

There are groups of people more likely to have iron deficiency anemia:

1. Women – Women of childbearing age lose blood monthly in their period. This puts them at risk for iron deficiency anemia. Pregnancy also causes a higher demand for iron, which may bring about iron deficiency anemia.
2. Infants and children – Newborn infants have stores of iron which should last for their first months of life, after which a supplementation is recommended if they are breast fed, or iron-fortified formulas are recommended if they are formula fed. Children need extra iron during growth spurts (it’s important for muscle development).
3. Vegetarians – Our main source of iron is meat. Since vegetarians don’t eat meat, they are at greater risk of iron deficiency anemia. (The iron in grains and vegetables isn’t absorbed as well as the iron in meat).
4. People with decreased absorption of iron in the intestines – Such as people with celiac disease.

Unless you’re a hamster, eating only vegetables can bring about iron deficiency anemia. Photo by shhexycorin.

If you have iron deficiency anemia and you are not included in one of those groups, the cause may be a hidden source of bleeding within your body, such as a peptic ulcer, hemorrhoids, cancer or other causes.

What causes it?

Iron is needed by the body to make hemoglobin. As you can read in our anemia article, hemoglobin carries oxygen in our red blood cells to reach all parts of the body. When there’s not enough iron, hemoglobin cannot be formed, which leads to iron deficiency anemia.

How does it feel?

As with all cases of anemia, iron deficiency anemia causes you to feel weak and tired easily. You may look pale. If it is severe, you may feel short of breath. Other things which can appear are headaches and irritability.

Other, less common things which can occur in iron deficiency anemia include:

1. Pica – This is a phenomenon in which people eat things that aren’t considered food, such as clay, coal, soil, ice.
2. Spoon-shaped nails
3. Angular Chelitis – These are wounds in the corners of the mouth.
4. Glossitis – This is an inflammation of the tongue, which causes it to swell and change color.

And others…

How is it discovered?

There are blood tests which can discover if you have iron deficiency anemia:

1. Complete blood count (CBC) – It checks, among other things, the level of hemoglobin. It also allows the doctor to see the blood under a microscope, which gives clues to the cause of the anemia.
2. Blood tests to check your levels of iron

If the doctor suspects you have a bleeding somewhere in your body which causes the anemia, they may check your stool for blood or examine your digestive tracts to look for a cause.

How is it treated?

The treatment is simple: iron. It may be taken as a pill or given as an injection (in people who can’t absorb the iron properly due to a problem in their intestines, or those who have side effects when taking the pill).

What happens after treatment?

Most people begin to feel better after a few days of treatment. The treatment is needed for several months, though, to build up the iron in the body.

The bottom line – How do I avoid it?

You can avoid it by eating foods rich in iron, such as red meat, pork, seafood, poultry, eggs, iron fortified cereals/bread/pasta, beans, peas, dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach), nuts and seeds, and dried fruit (like raisins and apricots). Iron coming from meat is absorbed better than the other types.

It’s also known that drinking citrus juice while eating iron containing foods helps with its absorption.

What next?

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