Iron deficiency is often overlooked in girls and younger women, but there are signs that doctors are finally “waking up” to a common blood disorder that can lead to fatigue or difficulty concentrating.For the first time, the American Society of Hematology is offering guidelines to standardize the diagnosis of iron deficiency.
The new recommendations for screening will “hopefully encourage more proactive treatment for one of the most common blood disorders,” said Dr.Ariela Marshall, an associate professor in the division of hematology, oncology and transplantation at the University of Minnesota.Almost 40% of teenage girls and young women have low levels of iron, according to a 2023 study published in JAMA, the first research to look at iron deficiency in young women and adolescent girls in the U.S.
Then in 2024, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that nearly 1 in 3 of all adults in the U.S.have iron deficiency.
There are indications that the disorder may actually be increasing among adults in the U.S., Leo Buckley, an assistant professor in the internal medicine department at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.Buckley, who was a co-author of the 2024 study, said his team’s most recent research shows a 3% increase in iron deficiency prevalence between 1999 and 2020.Low levels of iron in the blood are determined through a special blood test that measures ferritin, the protein that stores iron inside our cells.
The problem? Normal ranges for ferritin vary from lab to lab, which means some iron deficiencies never get flagged.The guidelines recommend new “threshold” ferritin levels to indicate low levels of iron in the blood.Based on the markers, some people who were previously believed to have high enough ferritin, or iron stores, would now be considered deficient, said Marshall, who is an expert with the hematological society.
The guidelines are also the first to establish threshold levels for women with heavy periods.Dr.Andrew...