If you experience unexplained fatigue, weakness or shortness of breath, your doctor may order a series of blood tests including a complete blood count. A complete blood count reveals your number of red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin content and the fraction of blood composed of red blood cells, known as the hematocrit. These test results can provide information on your overall health or help diagnose a medical condition. A low level of hemoglobin can occur due to anemia, which can be treated with iron pills.
Hemoglobin
Your body produces the protein hemoglobin by creating a heme molecule, which requires the insertion of iron into a ring structure, and then surrounding the heme with protein chains called globins. Red blood cells then bind to the hemoglobin protein, which gives the red blood cells their brilliant red color. The iron-containing heme portion binds to oxygen and carries it to the cells throughout the body. Without iron, hemoglobin production decreases. Without hemoglobin, the body produces defective red blood cells that cannot transport oxygen.
Anemia
Anemia is a general medical term to describe any condition characterized by a low number of healthy red blood cells. Anemia can occur due to a deficiency in a nutrient, a genetic disease such as sickle cell anemia, chronic disease such as cancer or kidney disease or treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation. The most common cause of anemia is a deficiency in the mineral iron. Iron-deficiency remains the most common nutritional deficiency in the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Iron-Deficiency Anemia
The Institute of Medicine recommends that adult men and post-menopausal women consume 8 mg of dietary iron per day. Women with a monthly menstrual cycle should consume 18 mg of iron to replace iron lost with the monthly blood loss. Failing to consume enough iron or conditions that interfere with iron absorption can cause iron-deficiency anemia and produce symptoms that range from mild to severe. Because of a lower level of circulating oxygen, iron-deficiency anemia causes fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache, tingling in the hands and feet, pale skin and chest pain.
Diagnosis
To diagnose the condition your doctor can perform a blood test. Normally, blood contains 13.8 to 17.2 gm/dL of hemoglobin in men and 12.1 to 15.1 gm/dL of hemoglobin for women. A hemoglobin level lower than this suggests the presence of anemia. To treat the anemia your doctor must determine the cause of the anemia. Performing a blood test to determine the amount of iron in your blood, known as a serum iron test, and the amount of iron stored in the body, known as a serum ferritin test provides the results necessary to confirm the diagnosis of iron-deficiency anemia.
Treatment
To treat a low hemoglobin level caused by iron-deficiency anemia, your doctor may recommend taking iron supplements, which come in pill form for adults. Iron pills come in two forms; ferrous and ferric iron. Because your body can more easily absorb ferrous iron, the most common supplements contain ferrous iron salts, such as ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate. The amount of elemental iron in each type of pill may also vary, with ferrous sulfate containing 20 percent elemental iron and ferrous fumarate containing 33 percent elemental iron, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Taking iron supplements can lead to iron overload and toxicity so only take the pills under the supervision of your doctor and keep them out of reach of children.
References
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Iron-Deficiency Anemia; April 2011
- World Health Organization: Iron Deficiency Anemia
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements; Iron; August 2007
- Linus Pauling Institute; Iron; Victoria Drake; August 2009
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intake Summary; 2005
