Iron deficiency anemia
Iron-deficiency anemia (or iron-deficiency anaemia) is a common type of anemia. It is caused by not having enough iron in food, not absorbing the iron in food, and/or losing iron because of bleeding.
Iron deficiency causes approximately half of all anemia cases worldwide, and affects women more often than men. This is partly because most women have periods (menstruate). There are probably more than one billion people who have anemia.[1]
Anemia is most common in areas like Brazil or Central Africa. Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe are affected too, with North America least affected.
Symptoms include pale skin, tiredness, and weakness.
Anemia can be diagnosed with a blood test by finding out if there is little enough hemoglobin in the blood.
Iron Deficiency Anemia Media
Koilonychia (spoon-shaped nails)
In many countries, wheat flour is fortified with iron.
Blood smear of a person with iron-deficiency anemia at 40X enhancement
Ball-and-stick model of the L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) molecule, C6H8O6, as found in the crystal structure.*X-ray diffraction data from J. Mol. Struct.: THEOCHEM (1997) 419, 139-154.*Model constructed in CrystalMaker 8.1. Image generated in
Deaths due to iron-deficiency anaemia per million persons in 2012:No data 0 1 2–3 4–5 6–8 9–12 13–19 20–30 31–74 75-381
