Iron deficiency anemia

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia is a pathology caused by hemo­glo­bi­­no­­synthesis disorder, with a significant decrease in iron de­­po­­sits in the body. Iron deficiency has several important cau­­ses, among which we mention: inadequate intake of iron, early childhood growth and development, pregnancy – by in­­creased need, small but repeated bleeding, abun­dant men­s­­tru­a­­tion, metrorrhages, fibroids, gastric or duodenal ulcer, hemorrhoidal disease, oncological path­o­logy, mal­­­ab­­sorp­­tion syndromes, inflammatory bo­wel diseases, pa­­­­ra­­­­si­­­to­sis etc. Iron deficiency anemia can be isolated or may be in the context of chronic di­seases (chronic heart fai­­lure, chronic kidney disease, in­flam­ma­tory bowel syn­dromes, cancer) etc. Anemia can be asymptomatic for a long time. The symptoms that may ap­pear are not spe­ci­fic: pallor, fatigue, lethargy, diz­ziness, ir­ri­ta­bi­li­ty, dif­fi­culty con­­cen­­tra­­ting, sweating, pal­pi­ta­tions, in­som­nia. Cli­ni­cal signs can highlight angular chei­litis, atro­­­phic glos­­sitis, dry skin, diffuse alopecia and soft nails. De­­creased in­­tel­­ligence, de­­pres­­sion and decreased immunity can also be due to iron de­fi­cien­cy. In the human body there are about 3-4 grams of iron. Ferritin is the main storehouse of iron in the body. To diag­nose iron deficiency anemia, there are necessary la­­bo­­ra­­tory tests for the value of hemoglobin, per­­­form serum fer­ritin – the most important test, along with transferrin sa­­tu­­ra­­tion and serum iron, since iron deficiency can exist in­­de­­pen­­den­t­ly of the presence of anemia. Serum ferritin loses its strength in the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia in case there is con­co­mi­tant inflammation, being an acute phase protein. Iron deficiency anemia always has a cause, being very important to diagnose the underlying di­sease and treat it. The treatment of iron deficiency anemia is carried out depending on the seve­ri­ty of the anemia and depending on the patient’s con­di­tion, with oral, pa­ren­te­ral preparations or even blood trans­fu­sions. The treat­ment follows a serum ferritin value above 50 ng/mL.