Iron Deficiency Anemia
Gretchen Tai see
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR 281 Pathophysiology
Professor Patton
29 May 2015

Iron deficiency anemia is a common easily treated condition that occurs if you don’t have enough iron in your body. The word "anemia" usually refers to a condition in which your blood has a lower than normal number of red blood cells. Red blood cells are responsible for the transport of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide (a waste product) from your body. In iron deficiency anemia, the red cells appear abnormal and are unusually small (microcytic) and pale (hypochromic). The pallor of the red blood cells reflects their low hemoglobin content.
There are four common causes associated with Iron deficiency anemia. The first one is decreased intake of iron in your diet. This mostly affects infants less than six months old because their diet consists of mostly breast milk and breast milk is a poor source of iron. For adults we can increase our diet with foods that are rich in iron like red meat, pork, seafood, beans, dark leafy vegetables to name a few. We should also take a vitamin C supplement or eat more foods rich in vitamin C such as broccoli, grapefruit, kiwi, oranges, and strawberries. These foods can aid in the absorption of iron. The second cause is increase demand that the body has for iron when a child or adolescent is going through a rapid growth there is an expansion of blood volume. Another example of this would be when a woman is pregnant and the body has an increase blood volume for the growth of the fetus. The third cause is absorption nutrients are absorbed in the duodenum but before they can get there they must first be converted into a form that’s easier for the absorption, this occurs in the stomach. If there is decrease stomach acid this converse cannot happen. This decreased in stomach acid can occur because of a medication that is classified as a proton pump inhibitor or PPI, while this medication will give relief for things like heartburn and indigestion it will inhibit the conversion of iron to be digested by the duodenum. The absorption can also be affected if the person has had a gastrectomy due to either stomach cancer, ulcers or for weight loss. The fourth cause of iron deficiency anemia is blood loss usually a blood loss for women through heavy menstruation. Peptic ulcer disease creating bleeding ulcers either in the duodenum or stomach can also create a blood loss. Something to keep in mind with the elderly for a blood loss is colon cancer because the blood loss in the GI tract can go unnoticed by the patient and the blood shows up in the stool. In developing counties hookworm would be a concern these worms will inhibit the intestines and attach themselves to the blood wall to suck out the host blood. Something else that could cause a absorption problem is there could be a problem with the duodenum as there is in Celiac disease when patients have an intolerance for gluten.
Iron deficiency anemia can be so mild that it goes unnoticed but as the iron because more decreased in the body these are some of the signs and symptoms that can occur. Patients often complain of feeling extreme fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, and headaches or a Pounding or "whooshing" in the ears. Their skin will have a pale color to it and often they will have cold hands, and feet. Some patients notice an uncomfortable tingling or crawling feeling in your legs with an irresistible urge to move the legs (restless legs syndrome) and can have unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or starch. In relation to all of these when assessing your patient you would detect increased respirations and rapid or irregular heartbeat because your heart must pump more blood to compensate for the lack of oxygen the blood is capable of carrying only a reduced amount of oxygen to tissues, a condition that stimulates the lungs to increase the respiratory rate in order to pick up more oxygen and the heart to increase its rate in order to increase the volume of blood delivered to the tissues. If left untreated this could lead to an enlarged heart or heart failure.
You should not take an iron supplement on your own because you are experiencing any of the above symptoms because overloading your body with iron can cause excess iron accumulation in your liver resulting in liver damage. You should make an appointment with your doctor to have the appropriate screening and testing done. Typically your doctor would start with some blood draws to see where your hemoglobin and hematocrit are at then possibly check your ferritin or iron levels also. Ferritin is the protein that helps store iron in the body. Other tests that can be performed would be an endoscopy to view the esophagus for bleeding ulcers or hiatal hernia, or a colonoscopy where the doctor can check the colon and rectum for polyps or other bleeding. If the patient is a woman that is complaining of heavy menstrual bleeding the doctor could order a ultrasound to checking for uterine fibroids.
Iron deficiency anemia can affect your daily activities due to feeling tired you may be less productive at work, tired throughout the day and no energy to exercise regularly. As mentioned earlier adults with severe anemia could experience tachycardia a rapid heartbeat, heart failure where your heart is not pumping blood to your body very efficiently. Pregnant women with untreated iron deficiency anemia could have a premature baby or baby with a low birth weight. Research has shown that iron deficiency anemia can also affect your immune system making this patient more susceptible to illness.

References