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Is Low Iron Causing Your Fatigue?

Doctors may screen for iron deficiency by testing your hemoglobin levels. But because the test doesn’t measure ferritin, it doesn’t typically show a drop until your iron reserves are already significantly depleted. As a result, the standard blood test can miss someone who’s iron deficient, said Dr. Angela Weyand, a pediatric hematologist at the University of Michigan. In fact, ferritin levels are the best reflection of total iron storage, and a ferritin test can catch iron deficiency in the early stages, before it becomes anemia, the most severe form of iron depletion. In a ferritin test, iron deficiency is characterized by ferritin lower than 30 nanograms per milliliter. Many doctors…

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Featured

 Maybe It’s Not Just Aging. Maybe It’s Anemia.

Even though hemoglobin levels are likely to have been included in their patients’ records, as part of the C.B.C. (complete blood count) routinely ordered during medical visits, doctors often fail to recognize anemia.

 Why iron deficiency is more common—and more serious—than you think

One in three US adults don’t get enough iron, which has a major effect on getting oxygen around your body. Find out how this common deficiency can lead to more severe health issues if untreated.

Articles of Interest

What It Means to Have "Ferritin Face"

Everything you need to know about the epidemic of iron deficiency in women.

Ferritin face: the new health scare taking social media by storm

Aren’t those just symptoms for “looking tired”? Is this one of those social media health scares with little to no scientific basis? No! I mean, yes, the term has recently become very popular on social media, as reported in the Washington Post. Ferritin face is not a real medical term (nor are there consistent criteria that define it) – but ferritin at least is definitely a thing.

A Canadian Breakthrough: Fortifying Lives Through Nutrition

From the discovery of insulin to treat diabetes to the development of the Blackberry, Canadians have a long and proud history of inventions that change the world and people's lives. But remarkably, one of the most impactful discoveries improving lives around the world in modern times is largely unknown in Canada.

A Host of Ills When Iron’s Out of Balance

These days, more attention is being paid to the opposite problem: iron overload, which studies indicate can damage internal organs and may increase the risk of diabetes, heart attack and cancer, particularly in older people.

Dementia Causes: Could Anemia Be A Risk Factor?

The research found that those who had anemia at the start of the study had a nearly 41 percent higher risk of developing dementia than those who were not anemic. The link remained even after factoring in age, race, sex and education.

Exhausted? Irritable? It could be undiagnosed iron deficiency

And while the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does recommend routinely screening pregnant people for anemia — a medical condition that can be caused by iron deficiency and results in the body having too few healthy red blood cells — providers likely miss many patients who are iron deficient but not anemic, Weyand said, since it requires other testing.

How Selfies Could Detect a Common Deadly Disease

More than half of the cases of anaemia are caused by low iron levels and can be treated with iron supplements, according to global health experts. But easy-to-use, reliable, and cheap methods to detect anaemia and monitor the effects of treatment are still needed.

Iron Deficiency Anemia: A Common and Curable Disease

Iron deficiency anemia arises when the balance of iron intake, iron stores, and the body's loss of iron are insufficient to fully support production of erythrocytes. Iron deficiency anemia rarely causes death, but the impact on human health is significant. In the developed world, this disease is easily identified and treated, but frequently overlooked by physicians. In contrast, it is a health problem that affects major portions of the population in underdeveloped countries.

Iron-deficiency is not something you get just for being a lady

Ladies, unless you are menorrhagic (bleeding more than 120 milliliters each cycle) your period is not doing you wrong. If you have iron-deficiency anemia and your doctor is insisting it's because you slough off your endometrium from time to time without doing a single test to confirm it, you may want to insist on an endoscopy. It could save your life.

Iron: The Double-Edged Mineral

It may also seem puzzling that after the age of 50, anemia rises sharply -- similar to iron overload. In this case, however, adults with iron deficiency are bleeding somewhere and are "wasting" iron. These conditions include ulcers, colitis, precancerous polyps, or even colon cancer.

Misdiagnosis of iron deficiency can lead to years of debilitating illness. Could nanodiamonds be the solution?

At the moment, the most accurate method for testing iron deficiency is to measure the protein that stores the iron, known as ferritin. Jenkins says we can imagine our iron is like water inside tiny bottles. “The current test will tell us how many water bottles we have,” she says, “but they don’t tell you how much water is in them.” The problem is that while some “bottles” are full of “water”, others are empty, she says.

The Trick To Getting More Iron Out Of Your Greens

While iron supplements may seem like the ideal way to make sure you're getting enough iron, Schmitt encourages people to focus on their plates rather than some pills.

This “Lucky” Fish Could Save Lives

A fish-shaped iron ingot is reducing the number of cases of iron deficiency anemia in Cambodia and beyond.

Tired all the time? There may be a simple reason for that

The Global Burden of Disease study, led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, puts iron deficiency anaemia as one of the top five causes of disability in women of reproductive age globally. Defined by the NHS as the most common cause of anaemia (when blood lacks the resources to deliver an adequate amount of oxygen to the tissues and organs), iron deficiency disproportionately affects women because – owing mostly to menstruation – they both need and lose more iron than men do.

Why an iron fish can make you stronger

When Canadian science graduate Christopher Charles visited Cambodia six years ago he discovered that anaemia was a huge public health problem...Dr Charles had a novel idea. Inspired by previous research which showed that cooking in cast iron pots increased the iron content of food, he decided to put a lump of iron into the cooking pot, made from melted-down metal.

Resources

10 Signs You Could Have Anemia

You may have no symptoms at first, or they may be very mild. As iron-deficiency anemia gets worse, some telltale signs can pop up. Here are the most common ones you might notice...

12 Signs That You Could Have an Iron Deficiency (And How to Feel Better

Millions of TikTok posts dedicated to wellness trends prove that we’re increasingly health conscious. But unsexy habits, such as making sure you’re not suffering from an iron deficiency, shouldn’t fall by the wayside. Iron is a key mineral to keep your body running. “It impacts physical and mental performance,” Rhian Stephenson, a nutritional therapist, tells Glamour UK. “Iron is needed to produce hemoglobin, the protein in our red blood cells that carries oxygen to our tissues, and myoglobin—the protein in our muscles that stores oxygen.”

15 Signs You May Have An Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States, and women are among those at greatest risk. Iron is critical for producing hemoglobin, a protein that helps red blood cells deliver oxygen throughout your body. So without it, everything suffers -- and can lead to anemia. Check out these symptoms of iron deficiency and, if you have them, see your doc and request a ferritin test, which measures your body's iron stores.

Iron Deficiency Day

We want people to get iron-informed! To understand why iron is so important to our bodies and what can happen if we're not getting enough, by by recognising the symptoms and taking action. By informing people about the importance of healthy iron levels, we will encourage more people to speak to their healthcare providers about iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia.

Hematology.org

Iron-deficiency anemia is diagnosed by blood tests that should include a complete blood count (CBC). Additional tests may be ordered to evaluate the levels of serum ferritin, iron, total iron-binding capacity, and/or transferrin.

Iron Disorders Institute

Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) is also referred to as anemia of inflammatory response. Although ACD can accompany life-threatening illness, anemia of inflammatory response is in fact a protective and natural mechanism that the human body uses to limit the amount of iron available when potentially harmful things get into our body.

KidsHealth

Toddlers can run into problems if they drink too much cow's milk (more than 24 ounces a day) and eat fewer iron-rich foods, like red meat and green leafy vegetables. Cow’s milk is not a good source of iron. In fact, milk makes it harder for the body to absorb iron and can contribute to iron-deficiency anemia.

MedicineNet

Because the signs and symptoms of iron deficiency (also termed anemia, iron deficiency anemia, sideropenia, and hypoferremia) can be very subtle, only a blood test can tell you for sure if your iron levels are too low.

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Treatment for iron-deficiency anemia will depend on its cause and severity. Treatments may include dietary changes and supplements, medicines, and surgery. Severe iron-deficiency anemia may require a blood transfusion, iron injections, or intravenous (IV) iron therapy. Treatment may need to be done in a hospital. The goals of treating iron-deficiency anemia are to treat its underlying cause and restore normal levels of red blood cells, hemoglobin, and iron.

NHS

There are many things that can lead to a lack of iron in the body. In men and post-menopausal women, the most common cause is bleeding in the stomach and intestines. This can be caused by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a stomach ulcer, stomach cancer or bowel cancer. In women of reproductive age, the most common causes of iron deficiency anaemia are heavy periods and pregnancy (as your body needs extra iron for your baby).

Patient

Complications may develop if the anaemia becomes severe and is not treated. For example, you can develop fragile and broken nails, hair loss and heart failure. A lack of iron can also affect the immune system so you may become more likely to develop infections.

PatientsLikeMe

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of microcytic anemia (anemia characterized by small red blood cells). It occurs when the dietary intake or absorption of iron is insufficient, and hemoglobin, which contains iron, cannot be formed.