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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffThese factors may increase the risk of iron deficiency anemia:
- Heavy menstrual periods
- Pregnancy
- A diet consistently low in iron
- A known or hidden source of bleeding within your body, such as an ulcer, a bleeding tumor, a uterine fibroid, a colon polyp, colorectal cancer or gastrointestinal bleeding.
These groups of people may be at higher risk:
- Women. Because women lose blood during menstruation, women in general are at greater risk of iron deficiency anemia.
- Infants and children. Infants, especially those who were low birth weight or born prematurely, who don't get enough iron from breast milk or formula may be at risk of iron deficiency. Children need extra iron during growth spurts, because iron is important for muscle development. If your child isn't eating a healthy, varied diet, he or she may be at risk of anemia.
- Vegetarians. Because vegetarians don't eat meat, they're at greater risk of iron deficiency anemia. Iron that comes from grains and vegetables isn't absorbed by the body as well as is iron that comes from meat.
In healthy men and postmenopausal women, iron deficiency usually indicates bleeding somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract.
Donating blood — a source of blood loss — isn't a common risk factor for iron deficiency anemia unless you've given blood repeatedly over a short time. However, some people first learn their hemoglobin is low, which indicates anemia, when they offer to donate blood. Low hemoglobin may be a temporary problem remedied by eating more iron-rich foods. It may also be a warning sign of blood loss in your body. If you're told that you can't donate blood because of low hemoglobin, ask your doctor whether you should be concerned.
- Iron-deficiency anemia. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ida/ida_all.html. Accessed Jan. 22, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Causes and diagnosis of anemia due to iron deficiency. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Approach to the adult patient with anemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Mesa R (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 28, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Treatment of anemia due to iron deficiency. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
