There are many facets of iron deficiency whichinclude: iron loss, iron intake, ironabsorption, and physiological demand and if the iron isdepleted at one of these sources it leads to IDA. There arethree stages to iron deficiency: pre-latent, latent,and IDA.
Iron-deficiency anemia may cause you to look paleand feel tired, or you may not have any symptoms at first. Butif your anemia goes untreated, it can cause seriouscomplications. When you don't have enough red blood cells,your heart has to work harder to get enough oxygen toyour organs.
Anemia is classified as mild, moderate, orsevere based on the concentrations of hemoglobin in theblood. For all of the tested groups, moderate anemiacorresponds to a level of 7.0-9.9 g/dl, while severe anemiacorresponds to a level less than 7.0 g/dl.
Normal levels are 40 to 300 for men and 20 to 200for women. To help diagnose iron-deficiency anemia, yourdoctor will consider your CBC, hemoglobin, blood ironlevels, MCV, and ferritin levels to determine if youhave iron-deficiency anemia or another type ofanemia.
Iron deficiency anemia signs and symptoms mayinclude:
- Extreme fatigue.
- Weakness.
- Pale skin.
- Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath.
- Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness.
- Cold hands and feet.
- Inflammation or soreness of your tongue.
- Brittle nails.
The tips below can help you maximize your dietary ironintake:
- Eat lean red meat: This is the best source of easily absorbedheme iron.
- Eat chicken and fish: These are also good sources of hemeiron.
- Consume vitamin C-rich foods: Eat vitamin C-rich foods duringmeals to increase the absorption of non-heme iron.
Why can't your body absorb iron?Conditions like celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn'sdisease can make it harder for your intestines to absorbiron. Surgery such as gastric bypass that removes part of yourintestines, and medicines used to lower stomach acid can alsoaffect your body's ability to absorbiron.
If your iron level is too low, you couldhave anemia. This means you don't have enough healthy red bloodcells to transport oxygen to your organs and tissues. A highiron level can be caused by: Taking too many ironsupplements.
The results may vary slightly among laboratories, but ingeneral, normal ferritin levels range from 12 to 300nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL) for males and 12 to 150ng/mL for females.
An iron profile is made up of several bloodtests that give information about iron in yourblood. The iron profile measures total amount ofiron in your blood. It also checks to see if theiron is attaching to protein as it should.
Total iron binding capacity (TIBC) is a bloodtest to see if you have too much or too little iron in yourblood. Iron moves through the blood attached to a proteincalled transferrin. This test helps your health care provider knowhow well that protein can carry iron in yourblood.
Eat foods with iron.
Good sources of iron include lean meat andchicken, dark, leafy vegetables, and beans. Eat and drink foodsthat help your body absorb iron, like orange juice,strawberries, broccoli, or other fruits and vegetables with vitaminC.Ferritin and your thyroid
Weight gain is also common. In some cases ofhypothyroidism, hair loss may not be directly linked to alack of thyroid hormones, but instead to iron deficiency. This, inturn, causes low ferritin and hypothyroidism to occur at thesame time.When you should start to feel better depends onyour particular situation. Normally, it may take from a week to amonth after you start your iron supplement before youstart to feel better. Continue to watch your symptoms andtake note of side effects that might be caused by thesupplements.
Causes of anaemia
Anaemia can have many causes, including:dietary deficiency – lack of iron, vitamin B12 or folic acidin the diet. malabsorption – where the body is not able toproperly absorb or use the nutrients in the diet, caused byconditions such as coeliac disease.Can anemia be prevented or avoided?
- red meat.
- seafood.
- organ meats, such as liver.
- whole grains.
- dried fruits.
- nuts.
- beans, especially lima beans.
- dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli.
Normal Iron levels are 40-150 ug/dL(female) and 50-160 ug/dL (male). Iron deficiency anemiaoccurs when there is a lack of iron in your body, causingprimarily a low hemoglobin concentration.
RA can be associated with different types ofanemia, including anemia of chronic inflammation and irondeficiency anemia. When you have an RA flare-up, the immuneresponse causes inflammation in the joints and othertissues. This can lead to the release of certain proteinsthat affect how the body uses iron.
Symptoms common to many types of anemia includethe following: Easy fatigue and loss of energy. Unusually rapidheart beat, particularly with exercise. Shortness of breath andheadache, particularly with exercise.
Athletes tend to deplete iron at faster ratesthan non-athletes, due to increased exercise-inducediron losses through sweat, urine and feces. Your body alsoloses iron during heavy training periods through sweating,running, and the gastrointestinal bleeding that cansometimes follow intense workouts.
Ferritin is not iron but is a proteinin the body which contains iron. As ferritinis the main form in which iron is stored in the bodythe amount of ferritin which is found in the bloodreflects the amount of total iron which is available to yourbody. Ferritin is therefore the best indicator ofiron deficiency.
Iron-deficiency anemia is the most commontype of anemia. It happens when you do not have enoughiron in your body. Iron deficiency is usually due toblood loss but may occasionally be due to poor absorption ofiron. Pernicious anemia is a condition in whichvitamin B12 cannot be absorbed in the gastrointestinaltract.
Severe anemia may cause painful lower legcramps during exercise, shortness of breath, and chestpain, especially if people already have impaired bloodcirculation in the legs or certain types of lung or heartdisease. Some symptoms may also give clues to the cause ofthe anemia.
Causes of low ferritin levels
A lower-than-normal ferritin level can indicatethat you have an iron deficiency, which can happen when you don'tconsume enough iron in your daily diet. Another condition thataffects iron levels is anemia, which is when you don't have enoughred blood cells for iron to attach to.Sometimes iron deficiency will present asanxiety, depression, irritability, and even poorconcentration and general restlessness. A better general screen isferritin levels (<15 ng/ml is the diagnostic level foriron deficiency, but levels less than 40 can present withrestless legs and other neurologic symptoms).
Medicinal Iron
Most people with iron deficiency need 150-200mg per day of elemental iron (2 to 5 mg ofiron per kilogram of body weight per day). Ask your doctorhow many milligrams of iron you should be taking per day. Ifyou take vitamins, bring them to your doctor's visit to besure.A level below 20% saturation often indicateslow iron, which can be caused by a variety of factors. Arange below 50 ng(ml) ferritin can also indicate a trend towardiron deficiency, and a range above 150ng(ml) can indicate anexcess of iron, which is also cause forconcern.
Key Clinical Message. One should always consider irondeficiency (without anemia) as the cause ofpersisting, unexplained unspecific, often severe, symptoms,regardless of the primary underlying disease. The symptomsof iron deficiency may arise from the metabolic systemswhere many proteins are iron containing.
