Bryan Betty: Iron Deficiencies

Iron deficiencies are an important but often hidden issue – the most common mineral deficiency in the world. Not having enough iron in the body can lead to a range of health problems.  

  

Why is iron so important in the body?  

• It’s important for making red blood cells in our blood, which carries oxygen around the body.  
• If we don’t have enough iron, we don’t produce enough red blood cells – we call this anaemia. 
• It’s also important for the immune system and growth and development in children.  

   

How does it affect us if we don’t have enough iron on board?  

• There are all sorts of symptoms that develop, the most common of which is feeling tired or fatigued.  
• Headaches, feeling short of breath, and interesting things like hair loss or brittle nails, racing heart, or ‘feeling the cold’. 
• You may just look ‘pale’. 

   

What causes it to happen?  

There are three big groups of causes:  

• Blood loss over time.  
  • Commonest cause is women with heavy menstrual bleeding.   
  • Sometimes hidden blood loss in the gut can indicate a serious issue like bowel cancer – if concerned, we will investigate it.  
• Not eating enough iron in our diet.  
  • That can be an issue especially for if you are vegetarian or vegan, as big source of iron is meat. Sometimes an issue for children.  
• What we call ‘malabsorption’.  
  • Not absorbing iron through the stomach. Can be due to things like stomach bypass surgery for weight loss or some stomach infections.  

   

What can we do about it?  

• It’s important if you are feeling tried or run down you see your GP for a simple blood test, which will tell us if you’re iron deficient. 
• If there is an underlying cause like blood loss, it will be treated or we’ll look for bowel issues.  
• If you are iron deficient, diet is incredibly important.  
• Obviously, meat or fish is an important source.  
• If you are vegan or vegetarian making sure adjust your diet to include more iron – green leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Fruit (Vitamin C) with meals as helps iron be absorbed.  
• Be careful as tannins in coffee and tea stop iron being absorbed.  
• Sometimes you do need iron supplements to boost your iron or occasionally an iron infusion at the GP to get your iron store back up. 

If you are concerned see your GP. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from news Talks at be Morning Jack.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
My seven year old car has sea callers, very effective
after the gym or on a summer's day. Not a
new thing. There you go. See this is you can
tell that I don't drive a cool car, can't you? Well?
Literally as a zing do.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
They use it?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
It's like a refrigerant or is it just a fan situation? Look,
I'm all he is, I'm learning something this morning. Time
to catch up with our resident doctor, Doctor Brian Betty
is in with us this morning. Call to Brian, Oh
cure Jack, Do you do you have a seat cooler?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
No?

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I don't, No, absolutely not.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
No, no, no, you and I've got to see I've
got to seat warmer. So right Hey, anyway, we're talking
to iron deficiency this morning. This is something that affects
so many people, the most common mineral deficiency worldwide. Why
is iron so important in the body.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Look, it's really important for making red blood cells in
our blood. Now, these carry oxygen from our lungs around
our body, so very very important. So if we don't
have enough iron in our body, we don't produce enough
red blood cells and we develop something called iron deficiency anemia,
and that causes all sorts of problems. Also very important

(01:22):
for the immune system and growth and development and children,
So a number of really really important functions for iron.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, okay, how does it affect us if we don't
have enough iron on board?

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Look, whole range of symptoms. However, the commonest thing we
do see in practice is someone presents feeling tired or
fatigued or just run down, or may even comment that
they look pale or just light. There can be other
other symptoms such as headaches, feeling shorter breath, and very
interesting things like hair loss or brittle nails, are racing hard,

(01:56):
or sometimes just feeling really really cold or just feeling
the cold. So yeah, there's a range of very very
different symptoms that can occur with with iron efficiency anemia.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
And what causes it to happen.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Look, there's three major causes. One, you can get blood
loss over time. So probably the commonest cause we do
see in practice is heavy period bleeding. So that's heavy
menstrual bleeding in woman, and that's very very common. Sometimes
there can be very hidden blood loss causes such as
bleeding from the gut and this can indicate a more
serious problem like bowel cancer for instance, and that needs

(02:33):
to be investigated. Now, the other one, big one, is
not eating enough iron in our diet. Now, this is
especially an issue if you're vegan or vegetarian because obviously
iron comes in red meat. It also comes in chicken
and fish, so if you're not eating those, you can
develop iron deficiency anemia. And interestingly, it can be an
issue for children. So if you breastfeed exclusively, breastfeed for

(02:57):
too long and don't introduce solids around four to six months,
children can become iron deficient anemia, become iron deficient, and
that's because there's not much iron and breast milk. So
that's the other thing we take note of. And the
third one is mal what we call malabsorption, so not
absorbing enough iron through the stomach and probably bariatric surgery

(03:18):
with weight losses becoming more common. So yeah, people who
have bariatric surgery have to take iron supplements to make
sure they're getting enough iron.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, right, So what can we do about it apart
from just eating lots more spinach and steak.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, So look, really really important. Look, if you're feeling
very tired, run down and you're just not feeling quite right,
make sure you do see your GP for a very
simple blood test that we do that says, look, you
don't have enough iron on board. Now, if there's an
underlying cause like causing the blood loss such as you know,
the heavy periods or we're worried about bleeding from the vowel,

(03:53):
we investigate that and treat that to stop the iron loss.
But obviously diet's incredibly important. So look, you know meat, fish, chicken,
very very important source of iron. But if you are
vegan or vegetarian, make sure you adjust your diet. So
you need to have lots of green leafy vegetables, nuts
and seeds and fruit. So vitamin C is very important

(04:16):
for iron absorption, so having fruit with your meals becomes
very important. And a little trick here is you have
to be careful with tannins and coffee or tea because
they actually stop iron bean absorbed, So you need to
be careful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So sometimes look, sometimes regardless
of that, you do need iron supplements to boost your iron.

(04:38):
An occasion you need what's called iron infusion, where we
infuse iron directly into the veins to back up and
to build up your iron stores. But baseline is, look,
if you're concerned, see your GP, get a simple blood
test and start to get it treated.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah right, I'm sure she won't mind me saying this,
but my wife when she was you know, has low
iron sometimes, and when she was pregnant, she went in
and got an iron transfusion infusion I suppose, and my god,
it made a difference, like it was night and day.

(05:14):
It was like she suddenly felt like she needed three
hours of sleep less every day and she still had
more energy. Like it was really just remarkable to see
how a mineral deficiency like that could fundamentally change her
day to day life. Like it really was just crazy.
So the extreme end of the treatments, but yeah, yeah, it's.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
They feel so much better once they treat the deficiency.
And pre and pregnancy is important because there's so much
more demands on iron and the body with growing the
baby inside the uterus, that iron deficiency can actually be
a problem in pregnancy as well. So yeah, important to
treat it because it's so important for the development of
the fetus and the baby.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Hey, thank you so much, appreciate your time, Brian. Doctor
Brian Beatty with us this morning. Here you go. Turns
out Brian and I have the wrong card. Jack. Both
my twenty sixteen Tomorrow and my twenty twenty one Silverado
have heated and call front seats. Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
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