You may have heard a lot of talk about Iron Deficiency Anaemia, but what exactly is it? Well, iron performs a variety of vital bodily tasks, like keeping you in good working order and energized.
Inadequate iron supply is widespread, resulting in negative consequences such as fatigue, reduced focus, and recurrent sickness.
Iron deficiency, on the other hand, isn’t always straightforward to detect, especially early on.
Supplementation is an excellent method to cure an inadequacy, particularly if diet adjustments alone are ineffective.
In today’s Plato Weight Management blog post, we’ll talk about:
- Anaemia
- How to tell if your Iron supply is too low
- Iron supplements
- Diagnosis
- How frequently should you get evaluated
Anaemia
To talk about iron deficiency, we first need to discuss anaemia and its effect on red blood cells.
It’s worth noting that we produce three sorts of blood cells which are mostly made in bone marrow: platelets to aid in blood clotting, white blood cells to combat infection and red blood cells to transport oxygen to various bodily regions and return carbon dioxide to be exhaled.
Now, these red blood cells have haemoglobin, a protein high in iron that makes blood red colour, which allows the transport of oxygen.
So anaemia happens when your body doesn’t have enough red blood cells to transport oxygen.
As a result, the condition can leave you feeling fatigued as oxygen is critical for producing energy during aerobic activity. If you suspect you may have it, be sure to contact your doctor as soon as possible, as it can often be a warning sign for something more severe.
Anaemia treatments range from taking vitamins to having medical procedures performed. There are several categories of anaemia, each with its unique set of causes. They can be moderate to severe in nature, and they can be transient or chronic. You may prevent some kinds by eating a healthy, diverse diet.
Examples include:
- Sickle cell anaemia is hereditary and is caused by faulty haemoglobin, making red blood cells obtain a sickle form. This abnormal haemoglobin is prone to die early on, leading to a persistent red blood cell deficit.
- Hemolytic anaemia, which is also hereditary but can also occur in older age, occurs when red blood cells are destroyed faster than bone marrow can replace them and is caused by blood disorders that kill red blood cells.
- Aplastic anaemia is a very uncommon, life-threatening condition that can be caused by autoimmune disorders, toxicity, infections and certain medications.
- Anaemia of inflammation, which is the interference of red blood cell production due to inflammatory diseases (AIDS, Crohn’s, cancer).
- Vitamin insufficiency anaemia, which is when you do not have enough vitamin B9 and B12 levels to help iron make the necessary amount of healthy red blood cells.
And the most common type of anaemia which is the topic of today’s blog post is iron deficiency anaemia.
To read our blog post about why and how to monitor your heart rate, please visit our blog post here.
How to tell if your Iron supply is too low
Low iron levels are prevalent, particularly in specific subgroups of people. If unaddressed, it can progress to a more dangerous disorder called iron deficiency anaemia, which is when your body doesn’t have enough iron to make the haemoglobin necessary for oxygen and carbon monoxide delivery.
Iron deficiency anaemia is associated with a number of indications, including migraines, fatigue, trouble concentrating, regular sickness, coldness, loss of hair, and sores, among many others.
If you have any of these, talk to your doctor about being evaluated to determine whether you have low iron levels or iron deficiency anaemia.
Also, be aware these symptoms usually appear when low iron levels develop into iron deficiency anaemia.
As a result, you could have low iron levels while having no idea, especially early on in iron deficiency.
Having your amount checked on now and again can help you recognize and improve low iron amounts before they progress.
Iron supplements
Through Iron supplementation, you can aid in reversing iron inadequacy or the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia.
Supplementation can achieve faster outcomes than diet and are frequently regarded as the preferred therapy strategy.
It can be very advantageous for those susceptible to low iron levels like people with cardiovascular problems, children, people with inflammatory bowel disease, people with cancer, alcoholics, vegan/vegetarians and obese persons.
It’s crucial to remember that taking iron supplements when it’s not necessary can be harmful because they can generally include high amounts of iron, creating difficulties with digestion and limiting the absorption of alternative nutrients in the stomach.
Taking these supplements when you don’t need to can potentially cause cell damage that can lead to organ failure, coma, or even death in extreme situations. As a result, before taking iron supplements, make sure to consult with your doctor about having your iron levels checked, and always follow their dose recommendations.
To read our blog post about the Vegan diet, please follow the link here.
Diagnosis
Because the inadequacies can be troublesome to identify, taking the symptoms only into account, taking a blood test is one of the top methods to evaluate low iron levels or iron deficiency anaemia.
Another idea is to see how your dietary iron intake compares to the advised iron intake amount, which might also be helpful.
Haemoglobin/hematocrit tests are frequently used to check for iron deficiency but usually only evaluate iron deficiency anaemia rather than low iron levels in the initial stage.
This is disadvantageous as if it was diagnosed faster, it could be treated faster.
The best test for cost and speed for checking iron insufficiency, particularly early on, is serum ferritin.
Although because it’s not standard practice to test for ferritin levels, you may need to specifically ask for this test, along with haemoglobin/hematocrit testing, when consulting your doctor.
How frequently should you get evaluated?
Individuals without a history of low iron levels in the past may opt to get their amounts checked annually in order to detect iron deficiency early on.
Improvements in haemoglobin may be seen within one month of using iron supplementation.
Although it typically takes at least 12 weeks to replenish it to its original quantity entirely and, in rare cases, much longer to fill ferritin amounts.
As a result, persons who are presently using iron supplementation should wait at least 12 weeks, if not somewhat longer, before having their levels of either variable reassessed.
However, a tiny percentage of persons do not react to oral iron supplements or have adverse effects. Consequently, those individuals may require further therapy.
Conclusion
When dietary adjustments by themselves are ineffective, iron supplementation can help cure an iron deficit.
Pregnant women, babies, kids, extremely active persons, and individuals with special medical problems are more prone to low iron levels and should have their iron levels checked on a regular basis.
If you’re thinking about getting yours done, make sure to ask for a haemoglobin and hematocrit test, as well as a ferritin test, as this is the best way to check iron deficiency, even early on.
If you are interested in undertaking one of our evidence-based and results-backed Plato Weight Management programs, please make sure to check what program may be suitable for you at this link or contact us here!
You can find out what some of our previous clients had to say about the program on our success stories page!