Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency and the leading cause of anaemia in the world. It affects all ages, genders, communities and is found across all socio-economic classes. It is estimated that about 20% of all women, 50% of pregnant/ lactating women and 3% of all men suffer from iron deficiency.

How does it affect us?

Iron is critical for normal functioning of cells and it’s deficiency at critical times of growth and development i.e. in pregnant women result in premature births, low birth weight babies.

In infants it is responsible for delayed growth and development, delayed physical and mental milestones, delayed normal infant activity and movement.

In toddlers it results in poor memory or poor cognitive (mental function) skills and may also lead to poor scholastic performance in school. Lower IQs levels have been linked to iron deficiency during critical periods of growth.

Iron deficiency in adults, which is much more common in women than in men, largely because of menstrual blood loss and poor food intake, is most significant cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, vague backaches, leg pains, feeling weak/ dizzy, headaches, sore tongue, poor immunity causing sensitivity to cold, feeling breathless doing simple tasks (climbing one floor, walking short distances, doing routine housework), restless legs etc.

What causes iron deficiency?

I am not talking of complex medical disorders here.

1. Poor intake – poor diet
2. Excess loss – menstrual loss; visible loss in piles; unseen loss due to intestinal worms or stomach ulcers
3. Excess demand – pregnancy & lactation; most women take iron religiously during pregnancy but ignore while breast feeding leading to their fatigue and child getting poor health quotient milk.

Managing Iron deficiency:

A simple blood count (CBC) provides enough information about severity of anemia and it’s likely cause. If there is deficiency, it has to be treated with oral iron supplements; just taking an iron rich diet does not work because there is a limit to what body can absorb from food.

In addition to supplements and subsequently maintain, iron rich foods are to be consumed. They are:

• Whole grains, spinach, tofu, cooked beans (rajmah, chick peas)
• Seeds of pumpkin and sesame
• Baked potato; dried apricot

 

Dr Suman Rao, an MBBS, 20 years of practice in family medicine, has won awards for presenting papers on cases and over 5 years of training claims accessors on cases.