What is iron deficiency anemia

Iron deficiency anemia is a disease in which the patient develops microcytic hypochromic anemia due to depletion of iron stores in the body. Because iron deficiency anemia goes through three stages: the first stage is called iron deficiency, when the patient has no obvious blood abnormalities and no clinical symptoms. The second stage is called iron deficiency erythropoiesis, when the patient shows changes in the blood routine, mainly in the form of smaller red blood cells, but the hemoglobin concentration is normal. The third stage is microcytic hypochromic anemia, in which in addition to morphological changes, the hemoglobin concentration also decreases significantly, which is called iron deficiency anemia. To diagnose iron deficiency anemia clinically, serum iron and ferritin need to be checked. If serum iron ferritin decreases, and at the same time, hemoglobin concentration in peripheral blood decreases, red blood cell volume becomes smaller and hemoglobin amount decreases, iron deficiency anemia can be diagnosed.