Extreme fatigue. Weakness. Pale skin. Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath.
Severe iron deficiency anaemia may increase your risk of developing complications that affect the heart or lungs, such as an abnormally fast heartbeat (tachycardia) or heart failure, where your heart is unable to pump enough blood around your body at the right pressure.
Iron-Rich Foods
Heme iron is found in meat, fish and poultry. It is the form of iron that is most readily absorbed by your body. You absorb up to 30 percent of the heme iron that you consume. Eating meat generally boosts your iron levels far more than eating non-heme iron.
What are the symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia? People with mild or moderate iron-deficiency anemia may not have any symptoms. More serious iron-deficiency anemia may cause common symptoms of anemia, such as tiredness, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
Common causes of iron deficiency include not getting enough iron in your diet, chronic blood loss, pregnancy and vigorous exercise. Some people become iron deficient if they are unable to absorb iron. Iron deficiency can be treated by adding iron-rich foods to the diet.
You may also find that low iron causes weight gain. There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly, your energy levels are low and so your exercise levels reduce; secondly, iron is essential for thyroid function, and an underactive thyroid will lead to weight gain.
With treatment, most people recover from iron-deficiency anemia in 2 to 3 months. You may need to take iron supplements for several months longer, though, to build up your reserves of iron.
Iron-rich drinks include apple juice, apricot nectar, beef broth, beet juice, cocoa using natural cocoa powder, “green” smoothies, orange juice, pea protein smoothies, prune juice, tomato juice, and spinach juice.
A lack of oxygen to your brain and other organs cause by low iron levels can cause dizziness which is usually related to nausea. Fibroids can also cause severe pelvic or back pain which can induce a sense of nausea. If you are feeling nauseous after a heavy period, you may want to get diagnosed for fibroids.
Eye symptoms of low iron can include a pale coloring of the inside of the lower eyelids. In moderate or severe cases of iron deficiency anemia, the inside layer of the lower eyelid is very pale pink or yellow instead of red. Rather than low iron, one common cause of blurry vision is dry eye.
A large 2020 study in BMC Psychiatry found that people with iron deficiency anemia had a significantly higher incidence and risk of anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorder, and psychotic disorders.
If left untreated, iron-deficiency anemia can cause serious health problems. Having too little oxygen in the body can damage organs. With anemia, the heart must work harder to make up for the lack of red blood cells or hemoglobin. This extra work can harm the heart.
A lack of iron in your body can lead to several problems, including sleep issues. It can disrupt your sleep cycle and lead to problems like periodic limb movement disorder and insomnia. A lot of people tend to overlook the signs of iron deficiency or anemia, but it is vital to keep its level in check.
Sustained stress is another cause of anaemia. Excessive stress hinders the manufacture of hydrochloric acid in your body, which is very important for the integration of iron and proteins. The deficiency of iron is equal to lack of haemoglobin and thus, anaemia.
1. Dates. 100 grams of dates contains 4.79 mg of our daily iron requirement. Besides, being iron-rich fruit, dates are amazing sources of antioxidants.
Cooked bananas had significantly higher iron content than raw bananas and phytate content was similar in all the banana samples. Total iron intake from bananas of each group was 1.6 mg of iron/480 g of raw banana and 2.6 mg or iron/500 g of cooked banana.
It is also of importance that iron-fortified drinking water can be used for cooking family meals, another way of supplying the daily iron intake and preventing all age iron deficiency anemia (29).
Severe iron-deficiency anemia may require a blood transfusion, iron injections, or intravenous (IV) iron therapy. Treatment may need to be done in a hospital.
The range of normal ferritin in most laboratories is 30 ng/mL to 300 ng/mL, and the mean is 49 ng/mL in women. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey describes iron deficiency in women as a low concentration of ferritin (<12 ng/mL). Diagnosis prompts consideration of the cause of IDA (usually, bleeding).
Craving and chewing ice (pagophagia) is often associated with iron deficiency, with or without anemia, although the reason is unclear. At least one study indicates that ice chewing might increase alertness in people with iron deficiency anemia.