If a person has an iron deficiency, how many mgs of iron should they recieve via an iron supplement?
Tommy T asked:
Anybody have a clue about this one? Person in question is 48 female and does NOT have health insurance.
Well if a person suspected that they had a deficiency, possibly because they had a diagnosis such as anemia when they were younger but were unable to see a doctor, is there anything you would recommend they should do?
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Anybody have a clue about this one? Person in question is 48 female and does NOT have health insurance.
Well if a person suspected that they had a deficiency, possibly because they had a diagnosis such as anemia when they were younger but were unable to see a doctor, is there anything you would recommend they should do?
January 31st, 2010 at 3:13 am
How was the iron deficiency diagnosed, what are her levels, and what’s the cause of deficiency? If unknown, it should be checked out before self-medicating, especially at her age.
Regarding the dose, this depends on the level of iron deficiency and is not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing. Hence the need to at the very least know the current levels in blood.
Taking too much increases side effects, can cause problems of its own, and is flushing money down the toilet (literally).
Good luck.
Addition: If the person suspects iron deficiency again, the best thing to do is increase meat and green leafy vegetables in the diet; mainly red meat. The reason for this is that the richest, and most bioavailable, for of iron is in heme in meat. Iron in supplements has a much poorer absorption by the body. Keep in mind that if indeed the body is iron deficient, it may take months to get the levels up to normal.
I wouldn’t recommend taking iron supplements without knowing the levels in the blood, to avoid any risks. However, some multivitamins have iron with vitamin C (which helps increase iron absorption), and the levels are generally not too high as to risk taking too much. It would be OK for person to take a a multi-vitamin tablet daily. The body will take what it needs and excrete the rest.
Again, I would strongly urge the person to at the very least get a complete blood count. If there is anaemia, the simple blood test can suggest which type it is, which would help in directing therapy. Especially given the age, the cause of anaemia (if any) may be different from the earlier bout. In the absense of underlying medical condition, causes of anaemia often differ with age. Blah?