Prevention and treatment of iron deficiency anemia

Written by He Li Fang
Hematology
Updated on May 10, 2025
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Some cases of iron deficiency anemia are preventable, which highlights the importance of education on nutritional knowledge and maternal and child healthcare. This includes improving infant feeding practices, advocating for breastfeeding, and timely introduction of complementary foods. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should appropriately supplement with iron. In areas where hookworm is prevalent, large-scale parasite prevention and control measures should be implemented, and timely treatment of various chronic gastrointestinal bleeding disorders should be carried out to reduce iron loss. Additionally, increasing iron intake can help prevent and control iron deficiency anemia. Also, high-risk groups, including infants, preterm babies, twins, pregnant women, individuals who have undergone gastrectomy, and those who frequently donate blood, should prevent and supplement with oral iron supplements for treatment.

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Written by He Li Fang
Hematology
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How long should iron supplements be taken for iron deficiency anemia?

First, it's important to understand that in treating iron deficiency anemia, addressing the underlying cause is the top priority. It's crucial to eliminate the causes of iron deficiency as much as possible. Solely supplementing with iron can only restore the blood picture, and neglecting the treatment of the primary illness will not lead to a thorough treatment of the anemia. Once the medication for anemia is stopped, it can easily relapse. So how long should iron supplements be taken for iron deficiency anemia? Generally, after patients start taking iron supplements, they can quickly feel an improvement in symptoms. The reticulocyte count tends to rise within three to four days after starting the supplements, reaching a peak around seven days. Hemoglobin shows a significant increase two weeks after starting the medication and can return to normal levels within one to two months. However, even after hemoglobin returns to normal, iron treatment should continue until the serum ferritin level has returned to 50 micrograms per liter before stopping the medication. If it's not possible to monitor serum ferritin, then iron supplements should be continued for three more months after hemoglobin has normalized, to replenish the body's iron stores. Therefore, the treatment of iron deficiency anemia with iron supplements generally lasts for three to six months.

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Written by Li Guo Bao
Hematology
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Can iron deficiency anemia be cured?

Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most common types of anemia clinically. The principle of treating iron deficiency anemia involves etiological treatment and symptomatic treatment. Etiological treatment means treating according to different causes, while symptomatic treatment involves correcting anemia and supplementing the raw materials for blood formation. The most common causes of iron deficiency anemia include gastrointestinal bleeding, internal hemorrhoids bleeding, hookworm and roundworm infections, malnutrition, and, notably in women, excessive menstrual bleeding and excessive bleeding during pregnancy and childbirth. These are common causes of iron deficiency anemia seen clinically. With the cause of iron deficiency anemia identified, the treatment often has a relatively high cure rate.

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Written by He Li Fang
Hematology
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Iron deficiency anemia lacks what element?

Iron deficiency anemia refers to a type of anemia caused by a lack of stored iron in the body, which affects the synthesis of hemoglobin. Its characteristics include a lack of stainable iron in organs such as the bone marrow, liver, and spleen, leading to decreased serum iron concentration, decreased transferrin saturation, and decreased serum ferritin. Typical iron deficiency anemia presents as microcytic hypochromic anemia. Therefore, iron deficiency anemia involves a deficiency in iron, a trace element essential for the human body, which is widely present in cells and participates in the body's metabolic processes. The human body has a strict iron metabolism regulatory mechanism to maintain normal physiological levels. Once this homeostasis is disrupted, it can lead to the occurrence of iron deficiency anemia. Factors that affect the distribution, absorption, transport, and storage of iron can all cause iron deficiency anemia.

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Written by He Li Fang
Hematology
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Characteristics of iron deficiency anemia blood picture

The clinical manifestations of iron deficiency anemia are due to the specific characteristics of anemia caused by iron deficiency and the underlying disease causing the iron deficiency. Its hematological characteristics present as typical microcytic hypochromic anemia. What does this concept mean? It refers to the values in a complete blood count where MCV is less than 80 femtoliters, MCH is less than 27 picograms, and MCHC is less than 30%. MCV refers to the average red blood cell volume, MCH refers to the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and MCHC refers to the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration of red blood cells. The extent of changes in red blood cell indices correlates with the duration and severity of anemia. The blood smear typically shows pale-stained red blood cells with an enlarged central pallor and varying sizes. Platelet count often tends to be high when there is concurrent bleeding and generally tends to be low in infants and children. White blood cell count is usually normal or slightly reduced, with normal differential. These are the hematological characteristics of iron deficiency anemia.

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Written by He Li Fang
Hematology
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What department should I go to for iron deficiency anemia?

Iron is one of the essential trace elements for the human body, and it is the most likely to be deficient among trace elements. Iron deficiency can lead to iron deficiency anemia, which is also identified by the World Health Organization as one of the global nutritional deficiency diseases and a major public health nutrition issue in China. According to epidemiological surveys, iron deficiency is related to the following factors: improper feeding during infancy, picky eating and nosebleeds during childhood and adolescence. In women, it is associated with excessive menstrual flow, poor nutrition, inadequate protein intake (especially low intake of animal proteins), inappropriate consumption methods of dairy products, as well as repeated pregnancies, breastfeeding, and certain diseases such as atrophic gastritis, chronic diarrhea, significant gastric resection, and hookworm infections, all of which can cause iron deficiency. Therefore, patients with iron deficiency anemia should consult the department of hematology, as iron deficiency anemia falls under the category of red blood cell disorders within hematology. Of course, infants, children, and adolescents under the age of 14 can visit pediatrics, and a portion of patients, such as pregnant and lactating women, can visit the obstetrics department.