If someone has iron deficiency anemia, it means they have limited healthy red blood cells. These cells are basically what carry oxygen into all the different parts of your body.
So this makes it one of the most essential elements of your whole body mechanism. When there is iron deficiency in the body, it leads to the accumulation of other problems too.
As the name says itself, iron deficiency means when you have limited iron in the body. It is one of the most important elements you should be having in the body. When you don’t have enough iron in the body, it limits how your body is producing hemoglobin.
This is one of the essential elements which is needed by the red blood cells to carry oxygen into the various parts of the body.
When you are having less iron in the body, it means you will feel very tired and also you will be suffering from shortness of breath.
In this article I am going to be talking about what is iron deficiency anemia- its symptoms, causes, as well as how it impacts your oral health.
So let’s begin:
Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anemia
When it comes to identifying the condition, you will notice how the symptoms are actually quite mild in the start. You may not even notice them in the start. But with time, they will progress.
Let’s now talk about them in detail:
- General fatigue can take over. You will without any reason feel extreme tiredness taking over you. And with time, this onset will become rapid and there is no fixed time
- Weakness is also common. Despite eating well and maintaining a healthy routine, you will likely feel weakness all over you
- You will notice how your skin is looking pale
- There is also shortness of breath also
- In some cases, the onset of dizziness can happen without any obvious trigger
- In some cases, you will also feel odd cravings take over
- There is a weird, crawling sensation in one or both of your legs
- Having an irregular heartbeat becomes common. This means it will go fast and slow without any obvious reason
- Brittle nails can take over
- Headaches will become frequent
- Tongue swelling can take place and you will feel a sensation of soreness in your mouth
- In certain cases, there is also cracks happening at the sides of your mouth
These symptoms can take place in major cases. But their severity differs, depending on the case.
So now let’s talk about the causes for this condition:
Causes of Iron Deficiency Anemia
Now let’s look into what are the various causes of this condition. It happens when you are not eating food which is containing plenty of iron.
Also it can happen because your body is not able to consume iron in the body properly. As I told you earlier, this iron is super important. It allows for the oxygen to move into all your major organs and tissues.
So what leads to low levels of iron in the body. Check it out:
- A diet which is low in iron also relates to what is your age and gender. Know that men need more of iron in your diet as compared to women. Also those who are younger would be needing more of iron due to their growth and body development.
- In some cases, you will not be able to absorb the iron in body effectively. This is due to suffering from certain conditions including that of celiac disease as well as some other abnormalities which does not allow you to absorb the iron effectively.
- In some cases, due to blood loss, you will likely be suffering from iron deficiency anemia.
- Having heavy periods can be a leading cause of you having very low iron in the body. It is during this time you should be having a diet which is rich in iron.
- If you are pregnant, you will definitely be needing extra iron in the body. This is essential for the baby growing within you. It is at this time your doctor will recommend iron tablets for you.
- Medications of heavy nature can lead to gastrointestinal problems. This includes suffering from acid reflux. The same lead to prevention of iron absorption.
Now let’s look into some of the most common risk factors leading to this condition. While they are not applicable to everyone, they do make you a more common contender for suffering from this condition:
Age Matters
If you have children between the ages of 6months to 2 years, they will most likely suffer from this condition. It is also more common and make adults who are way over the age of 65 years a strong contender suffering from iron deficiency.
Lifestyle Adaptation
What you eat and consume also plays a major role. This means if you are leading an active life which includes working out profusely, it will be impacting your iron in body. Hence you should be consuming more foods which are actually rich in iron.
Lead Harm
This means that the lead you get from water and other environmental sources are actually very harmful when it comes to limiting the amount of red blood cells are forming in the body.
Family History
Your family history matters. There are certain family conditions and diseases which can cause you to suffer from iron deficiency.
Gender matters
Your gender also matters. Having iron deficiency anemia in women and girls is more common. Especially those who are on heavy periods and those who are pregnant.
So now that you have a good handle on how iron deficiency impacts your health, I want to talk about how it affects your mouth particularly.
Types of Anemia and Impact on Oral Care
Did you know that there are actually different types of anemia. And all of them impact your teeth in one way or the other.
How does iron deficiency anemia impact you?
This basically causes for you to suffer from pale tissues in the mouth. This is because of the limited red blood cells in the mouth too.
It also leads to inflammation in the mouth too. This is specially in the case of your tongue. Which is a condition known as glossitis.
If you are suffering from iron anemia deficiency, it can make your teeth sensitive and you will feel your tongue is appearing to be smooth and swollen but also very pale.
Having iron deficiency anemia also means you will likely suffer from gum diseases which includes gingivitis or periodontitis.
How to get treatment?
Fortunately when it comes to the effective treatment of this condition and how it is impacting your teeth and tongue. You can adapt some diet alternatives. This includes consuming green vegetables and red meats. It will be adding iron into your body. And that in turn will create oxygen which moves into your body organs and tissues.
However it is best that you first speak to your doctor to ensure that you are following the proper diet regime. Aside from that, consuming plenty of vitamins also helps in your diet.
Lastly, I want to touch upon some of the most effective prevention tactics.
Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia
We have already talked in plenty on what are the major symptoms of this condition and what are the leading causes.
Now I want to touch upon the prevention tactics you should be applying. For most of it, you just need to ensure that you are consuming a diet which is rich in iron. This includes:
- meats
- beans
- consuming pumpkin seeds
- squash seeds
- raisins
- eggs
- leafy greens
- red meats
- seafood
- instant cereals
- oatmeal
- cauliflowers
- tomatoes
- strawberries
- oranges
- peppers
Hence it comes as an advantage that you can consume and maintain a high iron level in your diet by eating from this range of food choices.
Prevention in Babies
When it comes to controlling the iron deficiency anemia in children, know that you should be providing your babies below the age of 6months your own milk or infant formula. However once they pass that age range, you can very well include iron-fortified cereals and purred meals. As they will be giving an iron boost. Ensuring that your child is growing healthy.
Conclusion
Iron deficiency anemia is a condition which is common. It basically relates to having low levels of iron in the body. Much like other nutrients, it is very important. And probably even more. This is because you need good levels of iron in the body to ensure it is transferring oxygen in your body’s organs and tissues.
So you need to keep a strong lookout on the symptoms to identify if you are suffering from the condition or not. Also it is important that you identify the causes. There can be various reasons and you need to know why.
In this article, I also touched upon how this condition impacts your teeth and oral health. And lastly we touched upon the prevention tactics which mainly includes adapting a varied diet.
