IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA
Iron deficiency anemia is due to insufficient iron.In Iron deficiency anemia hemoglobin synthesis is impaired, resulting in anemia and reduced o2 delivery to tissue.
CAUSES OF IRON DEFICIENCY
- Rapid growth in infancy or adolescence
- Pregnancy
- Gastrointestinal bleeding can result from regular use of some over-the-counter pain relievers, especially aspirin.
- Erythropoietin therapy
- Chronic blood loss
- Menses
- Acute blood loss
- Blood donation
- Phlebotomy as treatment for polycythemia vera
- Inadequate diet Malabsorption from disease (sprue, Crohn’s disease)
- Malabsorption from surgery (gastrectomy and some forms of bariatric surgery)
- Acute or chronic inflammation
- Peptic ulcer
- Poverty
- Low socioeconomic status
- Vegans
- Hiatal hernia,
- Colon polyp
- Colorectal cancer
- Leukemia
- Vitamin B12 deficieny
- Thalassemia
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chemotherapy
SYMPTOMS
- Pale
- Tired
- Extreme fatigue
- Weakness
- Pale skin
- Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath
- Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness
- Cold hands and feet
- soreness of your tongue
- Brittle nails
- Unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or starch
- Poor appetite
- Angina
- Systolic murmur
IRON METABOLISM
Iron is a critical element in the function of all cells, although the amount of iron required by individual tissues varies during development. At the same time, the body must protect itself from free iron, which is highly toxic in that it participates in chemical reactions that generate free radicals such as singlet O2 or OH– (fenton reaction)
Iron absorption takes place largely in the duodenum and proximal small intestine and is a carefully regulated process. For absorption, iron must be taken up by the luminal cell. That process is facilitated by the acidic contents of the stomach, which maintains the iron in solution. At the brush border of the absorptive cell, the ferric iron is converted to the ferrous form by a ferrireductase.
Once inside the gut cell, iron may be stored as ferritin or transported through the cell to be released at the basolateral surface to plasma transferrin through the membrane-embedded iron exporter, ferroportin. The function of ferroportin is negatively regulated by hepcidin, the principal iron regulatory hormone.
PREVENTION
Foods rich in iron include:
Red meat, and poultry
Seafood
Beans
Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach
Dried fruit
Figs
Dates
Vitamin C containing fruits
Avoid pain killer
Avoid chemotherapy
DIAGNOSIS
Blood –CBC,SMEAR,FERRITIN,IRON
TREATMENT
HOMEOPATHY MEDICINE