Iron: Do you have enough?
Iron is an essential nutrient for multiple functions in the human body, the most important being the synthesis of hemoglobin.
It is common knowledge; therefore, that iron deficiency can cause anemia but some of the other effects of iron deficiency are:
- Fatigue and lethargy
- Paleness in body parts such as the face, lower inner eyelids and nails
- Shortness of breath
- Headache
- Light-headedness and dizziness
- Pounding of heart and fast heartbeats
- Dry and damaged hair and skin
- Sore or swollen tongue
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Higher risk of restless leg syndrome
- Brittle nails
- Cravings for strange foods or non-food items (chalk, clay etc.)
- Cold hands and feet
- More frequent infections
Iron deficiency is widely prevalent in our country. It is easily treatable, but if untreated, it can have far-reaching effects on your health. To understand the iron status of the general population, we examined the iron levels of all those who did a serum iron test as part of a routine health check-up at Suburban Diagnostics over the past 5 years.
From more than 40,000 samples, we found that:
Iron deficiency is rampant with roughly 1 in 10 women and 1 in 8 men being deficient in Iron. We also found that iron deficiency is seen even in patients who do not have any anemia (latent iron deficiency). 8% of men and 3% of women had iron deficiency despite having normal hemoglobin levels.
Make your health a priority. Check your iron levels today.
