- Dr. Nielsen, how does iron deficiency come about?
- Who is particularly vulnerable?
- How best to treat iron deficiency?
Expert Interview
Lack of concentration, persistent fatigue and also external signs such as paleness, hair loss or torn corners of the mouth - these can be typical symptoms of iron deficiency . It is important then to consult a doctor directly and have the iron status determined. If there is a deficiency, he can recommend a suitable therapy. But: which is the right therapy for me?
For this we have the iron expert Dr. Ing. Dr. Nielsen interviewed by the Eisenstoffwechselambulanz of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf.
Dr. Nielsen, how does iron deficiency come about?
An iron deficiency is caused by a longer existing negative iron balance, that is a too low supply of dietary food, which can not meet the individual needs of iron. Men usually have a memory iron reserve of about 800 mg, which can help out for some time. Women, however, usually only a reserve of about 100 mg or missing iron stores.
Who is particularly vulnerable?
Women of childbearing potential have the greatest risk due to regular menstruation, children of growing age and endurance athletes.
Less frequent but quite significant is the group of people with low supply of bioavailable food iron, eg people with malnutrition and vegetarians .
Medically important isolated cases in which iron deficiency occurs as a symptom are, for example, patients with defined iron absorption disorders as well as gastrointestinal or gynecological blood loss.
How best to treat iron deficiency?
With a controlled iron intake. This can be done by oral iron medication with an effective and well tolerated iron supplement. In case of iron deficiency anemia, you should take 100 mg of divalent iron during the day for at least two to three months. It is important to document the increase in ferritin and hemoglobin levels, and thus the effect, in order to identify patients with chronic blood loss and then treat the individual cause.
So-called nutritional supplements are only low dosed with iron, of questionable quality and usually insufficiently effective.
Intravenous iron supplements generally have a risk of sometimes severe allergic reactions, are not easy to dose and usually expensive. They are more for the special therapy and should remain a second choice drug.
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