Your Nutritional and Vitamin Supplement Information Resource

posted by Ronald on May 20

An Iron deficiency is a common problem affecting many people all over the world. Studies have shown that iron deficiency is more common in women of childbearing age and children. Men are less likely to have this type of mineral deficiency. Iron is very important for your body as it is present in all of your cells and has many very important functions. Iron is an essential nutrient which means our bodies must obtain this important nutrient through diet or supplementation.

Iron Deficiency Anemia is the result of having low iron in the blood stream. If the body does not have enough iron, important functions can be disrupted and this type of anemia could even be fatal. About 20% of women who are of child bearing age have Iron Deficiency Anemia, while only 2% of men experience the deficiency within their lifetime.

Causes of Iron Deficiency

Chronic bleeding is the main cause of iron deficiency. This is because hemoglobin holds iron and when you bleed you loose hemoglobin. Excessive bleeding during a menstrual cycle for women is one of the most commons ways women experience an iron deficiency. Not getting enough iron in a diet is another common cause of iron deficiency. Other causes include side-effects and adverse effects to certain drugs; and malabsorption syndromes where a poor diet can cause the body to not absorb iron efficiently.

Symptoms and treatments for Iron Deficiency

A person can experience symptoms of iron deficiency even before the problem has progressed into anemia. Some of the common symptoms of having an Iron deficiency are paleness, tiredness, fragile nails, irritability, and the feeling of weakness.

Treatments usually consist of taking an iron supplement and also maintaining a high iron diet. About sixty percent of adult patients with iron deficiency anemia have an underlying condition that effects the gastrointestinal tract where nutrients are not being efficiently absorbed by the body. The treatment may consist of supplements like ferrous gluconate, ferrous sulfate and amino acid chelate capsules. Recent studies have shown that the average elderly patient with iron deficiency only needs a supplement of about 15mgs of iron per day. Not a lot of iron but enough to maintain the proper levels within the body.

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