Iron Deficiency: What You Need To Know

Iron Deficiency: What You Need To Know

 

 Iron deficiency, is what you need to know when your iron levels are low. This is Ben, and he is 20 years old. Ben was diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia and today we are going to walk through what a day in his life looks like. 

This condition causes him to feel fatigued through most of the day, and he frequently experiences headaches. After climbing a flight of stairs or exercising he experiences shortness of breath, and becomes lightheaded. His skin looks pale and has become dry, causing him to lose the glow he once had. And he has recently noticed his nails had become brittle and broke easily. 

Other symptoms that Ben experiences include cold hands and feet, poor appetite, and unusual craving for non-nutritive substances, such as ice and starch. Ben should have four to five grams of iron stored in his body in order to maintain healthy levels of this 65% of iron is stored in the form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein that is found in red blood cells that assists in transporting oxygen throughout the body. 

First, the oxygen molecule as shown in blue binds to available hemoglobin molecules in the red blood cell. Once the red blood cell reaches an area of the body, that requires oxygen, the oxygen is released from the hemoglobin around one to 2% of iron is stored in the form of heme. heme is a ring-shaped molecule that is found within hemoglobin, which is able to bind are in the case of hemoglobin. Each hemoglobin molecule contains four heme groups. The final 30 to 35% of iron is stored in the liver in the form of ferritin, which is a protein there are 10 that regulates the amount of iron in the body by storing it and leasing it as necessary. A ferritin test is a blood test that can be done to determine if Ben does not store enough iron and can be used as one type of diagnostic tool for iron deficiency. Iron plays a role in many processes in the body. 

A large portion of our daily intake of iron is used for red blood cell production. Iron is also involved in the creation of energy for the body. Iron further plays a role in cell growth and differentiation of cells into different types of cells. Iron is also able to regulate the expression of certain genes. Due to Ben's iron deficiency, some or all of these functions may not be performing optimally, which could cause some of the symptoms that Ben experiences are in deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia that occurs if you do not have enough iron in your body. So what is causing bent have iron deficiency, and deficiency anemia develops over time? Because Ben's body's iron levels are too low. Low intake of iron can happen because of blood loss, consuming less than the recommended daily amount of iron, and medical conditions that make it hard for one's body to absorb iron from the digestive tract. 

When you lose blood, you lose iron. Certain conditions and medicines can cause blood loss and lead to iron deficiency anemia. Common causes of blood loss include bleeding in your digestive tract as a result of ulcers or colon cancer. Regular use of medicines such as aspirin, or anti-inflammatory medicine, such as Advil, frequent blood donations or blood tests, heavy menstrual periods for women, as well as injuries and surgeries. And deficiency can also be caused if an individual consumes less than the recommended daily amount divide.

 The recommended daily amounts of iron depend on one's age, gender, and whether the individual is pregnant or breastfeeding. This is a chart from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute showing the recommended daily amounts of iron that should be consumed. In Ben's case, since he is a 20-year-old male, he would fall into this category, which means that it is recommended that he can choose eight milligrams of iron per day. Another cause of iron deficiency may be due to problems absorbing iron. Even if you consume the recommended daily amount of iron your body may not be able to absorb iron. 

Certain conditions and medicines can decrease the body's ability to absorb iron and lead to iron deficiency anemia. This can Patients include intestinal and digestive conditions, such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, a history of gastrointestinal surgery such as weight loss surgery, and certain rare genetic conditions, such as a mutation that causes a person's body to block the intestine from absorbing iron. We will discuss the three stages of iron deficiency for you to better understand the progression of iron deficiency anemia. The first stage is iron store depletion, where iron stores are low and there's low ferritin level ferritin In other words, is how iron is stored in the body. At this stage, there are usually no symptoms attributed to low ferritin levels,

 

but what happens when the condition progresses. The second stage is iron deficient or rethrows boy uses a reefer voice is the process of creating red blood cells. During this stage, the transportation of iron decreases and is characterized by lower production and size of red blood cells. At this stage, symptoms include fatigue, and having a lack of energy as well as having slower cognitive abilities. The third and final stage is iron deficiency anemia, where red blood cells are fewer number smaller and contain less hemoglobin. This is also known as a late-stage and results in severe symptoms seen with iron deficiency anemia. 

And Ben's case, he's in the third stage and starts to feel extreme fatigue, weakness, headaches, poor immune function, and a lower ability to do physical work. This physician has prescribed him oral iron supplements to increase his iron levels to alleviate any symptoms. Ben has been advised to take his medication with vitamin C pills or orange juice to increase the absorption of iron. Other treatments include the delivery of iron-rich fluid through IV, specifically for those where iron absorption at the level of the intestine is compromised. As for Prevention iron deficiency anemia can be prevented through the implementation of an iron-rich diet. This includes red meat, tofu, fruits, especially those with a higher vitamin C content, le glumes, leafy greens, and broccoli.

 It is important not to consume these enhancers at the same time you do for inhibitors as they will inhibit the absorption of iron and these include Coffee and Tea, Milk, corn, and chocolate. Thank you for watching the video and we hope that this helped you learn more about iron deficiency anemia. If you are interested to further your knowledge, please refer to the following website at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute