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Iron deficiency, or sideropenia, is the state in which a body lacks enough iron to supply its needs. Iron is present in all cells in the human body and has several vital functions, such as carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs as a key component of the hemoglobin protein, acting as a transport medium for electrons within the cells in the form of cytochromes, and facilitating oxygen ...
In iron deficiency, the bone marrow produces fewer blood cells, and as the deficiency gets worse, the cells become smaller. Most well-nourished people in industrialized countries have 4 to 5 grams of iron in their bodies (~38 mg iron/kg body weight for women and ~50 mg iron/kg body for men). [7]
Human iron homeostasis is regulated at two different levels. Systemic iron levels are balanced by the controlled absorption of dietary iron by enterocytes, the cells that line the interior of the intestines, and the uncontrolled loss of iron from epithelial sloughing, sweat, injuries and blood loss. In addition, systemic iron is continuously ...
In order to test for an iron deficiency, providers tend to look at your ferritin, a protein found in your blood that contains iron. You can think of this number as a savings account, she says.
Iron-deficiency anemia is anemia caused by a lack of iron. [3] Anemia is defined as a decrease in the number of red blood cells or the amount of hemoglobin in the blood. [3] When onset is slow, symptoms are often vague such as feeling tired, weak, short of breath, or having decreased ability to exercise. [1]
An analysis of data from more than 8,000 adults in the U.S. revealed that 14% had low iron blood levels, a condition known as absolute iron deficiency, while 15% had the right iron levels but ...
These accumulations may be caused by excessive red blood cell destruction (haemolysis), excessive iron uptake/hyperferraemia, or decreased iron utilization (e.g., anaemia of copper toxicity) uptake hypoferraemia (which often leads to iron deficiency anemia). Cellular iron is found as either ferritin or hemosiderin.
Anemia has many different causes, although iron deficiency and its resultant iron deficiency anemia are the most common causes in the Western world. As absence of iron decreases heme synthesis, red blood cells in iron deficiency anemia are hypochromic (lacking the red hemoglobin pigment) and microcytic (smaller than normal). Other anemias are ...