Everyone Healthy Library
Iron Deficiency
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
! Seek urgent medical care if warning signs appear
Some health conditions or symptoms can become urgent. Use this page for education, but seek help quickly if warning signs are present.
Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
- stroke-like symptoms such as face drooping, arm weakness or speech trouble
- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
- severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face/throat or widespread rash with breathing trouble
- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
- signs of severe dehydration, sepsis, high fever with worsening illness, or symptoms in a baby/young child that concern you
Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Condition overview
Attributes
Incidenceis approximately 1 in 24 people
Linked signs and symptoms
3Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
Linked drugs / medications
1Medication information is educational only. A doctor or pharmacist should advise whether any medicine is appropriate.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
4Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Medical therapy
1Vitamins and minerals
2Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
14These are pulled from both EH diagnostic-test link tables, including the older large test-link table.
- Erythrocyte Fragility Test (Osmotic Fragility, OF)
- Ferritin Concentration
- Free Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (FEP) Concentration
- Heamatocrit (Hct)
- Hemoglobin (Hb) Concentration
- Iron Concentration
- Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) Weight Test
- Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC)
- Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
- Platelet Count
- Protein Electrophoresis (Blood, Serum Protein)
- Red Blood Cell (RBC) Count
- Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) Test
- Reticulocyte Absolute Count
Biological markers/agents
13This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
Often increased
4- Beta GlobulinReference range exampleAll: 0.7–1.2 gm/dLLinked diagnostic testsProtein Electrophoresis (Blood, Serum Protein)
- Free Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (FEP)Reference range exampleAll: 16–37 µg/dLLinked diagnostic testsFree Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (FEP) Concentration
- PlateletsReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 150–450 109/L; Adult ( > 16y): 135–380 109/LLinked diagnostic testsPlatelet Count
- Red Blood Distribution Width (RDW)Reference range exampleAll: 11–14.5 %Linked diagnostic testsRed Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) Test
Often decreased
9- FerritinReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 7–140 µg/L; Adult ( > 16y), Female: 18–160 µg/LLinked diagnostic testsFerritin Concentration
- Hemoglobin (Hb)Reference range exampleFemale: 78–100 gm/dL; Male: 76–100 gm/dLLinked diagnostic testsHemoglobin (Hb) Concentration, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) Weight Test
- IronReference range exampleChild (0 - 16y): 50–120 µg/dL; Adult ( > 16y), Female: 50–150 µg/dLLinked diagnostic testsIron Concentration, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
- Percentage NaCl at which Hemolysis beginsReference range exampleAll: 0.5–0.6 %Linked diagnostic testsErythrocyte Fragility Test (Osmotic Fragility, OF)
- Percentage NaCl at which Hemolysis is completeReference range exampleAll: 0.3–0.35 %Linked diagnostic testsErythrocyte Fragility Test (Osmotic Fragility, OF)
- RBC MassReference range exampleFemale: 36–48 %; Male: 42–52 %Linked diagnostic testsHeamatocrit (Hct)
- Red Blood Cell (RBC) VolumeReference range example76–100 fLLinked diagnostic testsMean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
- Red Blood Cells (RBC)Reference range exampleAdult ( > 16y), Female: 3.6–5 106/mm3; Adult ( > 16y), Male: 4.2–5.4 106/mm3Linked diagnostic testsRed Blood Cell (RBC) Count
- ReticulocytesReference range exampleAdult ( > 16y): 24–83 109/L; 0.5–1.5 %Linked diagnostic testsReticulocyte Absolute Count, Reticulocyte Count Percent Total RBC
Introduction / full article
Iron Deficiency
The main information article for this record is not yet available in the database.