Patient: My routine blood test showed low indicators such as hemoglobin and a high platelet count. I have always known that I am anemic, and a doctor once said that I belong to iron deficiency anemia. Since I plan to get pregnant, I went to the hospital for some more tests, and this time the doctor saw that my platelet amount was high on the lab sheet, and said that I need to go to the hematology department for a checkup, and I may need to do a bone marrow aspiration, and I would like to ask Dr. Liu to help me look at my lab sheet. Do I need to do a bone marrow aspiration? Also, is it true that I have iron deficiency anemia? Will this have any effect on my future pregnancy? Thank you, doctor! Liu Hui, Department of Hematology, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health: Blood tests for ferritin, transferrin and serum iron can confirm the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is very likely from the blood test. Platelets are often elevated in patients with iron deficiency anemia, so don’t worry. Do you usually have a lot of menstruation? Do you eat a lot of meat? Iron deficiency is often caused by blood loss or unreasonable diet, it is important to find the cause of iron deficiency. Patient: Thank you, Dr. Liu, I feel much relieved to hear you say so, my menstruation is fine, average, I feel not too much, usually do not eat too much meat, do I need to pay attention to eat more in the diet? Do you mean I need to check for iron deficiency anemia? Will the iron supplements I’m taking now will correct it quickly? Will this affect the pregnancy, the birth and the health of my child? Thank you very much! Liu Hui, Department of Hematology, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health: Eat more lean meat and animal liver for iron supplementation, and don’t drink strong tea and coffee, which will affect the absorption of iron. It is better to take blood to confirm the iron deficiency anemia. Iron supplementation can generally be corrected quickly, after normal hematocrit continue to take iron supplements for 3 months to supplement stored iron. It does not affect pregnancy, but pregnancy can aggravate iron deficiency due to the increased iron requirement, so it is best to normalize the hematocrit before pregnancy. Patient: Thank you very much, Dr. Liu. I will go back to take blood to confirm, and I will pay more attention according to what you said. Liu Hui, Department of Hematology, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health: Wish you a speedy recovery!