Labs that name the type
A complete blood count, ferritin and iron studies, with vitamin B12 and folate when the picture calls for them.
Sound familiar?
Treated, then back again.
- You’ve been told your iron or blood count is low, more than once.
- Iron pills upset your stomach, or didn’t work.
- You’re tired, pale and short of breath.
- Your heart pounds on the stairs.
- It got better, then came back.
What’s happening in your body
Three ways to run low on red cells.
Anemia means too little hemoglobin to carry oxygen. Which way you got there decides the treatment.
- Too few madeA missing building block (iron, vitamin B12 or folate), or kidneys and bone marrow that are not producing as they should.
- LostSlow, steady bleeding: heavy periods, or hidden bleeding from the stomach or bowel.
- DestroyedRed cells that break down too early: inherited conditions such as sickle cell disease or thalassemia, an immune reaction, or other causes.
The evidence
What the research shows.
Published averages
Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anemia’s burden worldwide.
Published averages
Iron pills work slowly: about 1 g/dL in three months.
What we do
Treat the anemia. Find the leak.
A physician visit
Your history, your medicines and your diet, and a plan built on your results.
IV iron infusions in clinic
When iron is the problem: iron straight into the vein, in our clinic, watched by our team.
Finding the cause
In men and in women after menopause, unexplained iron deficiency needs a look for blood loss in the gut, and we refer you for it. Heavy periods need a gynecologic evaluation. Anemia that is not from iron gets its own plan and specialist referral.
What waiting costs
What waiting costs.
- Anemia affected 1.92 billion people in 2021 and caused 52 million years lived with disability. Iron deficiency was its leading cause.GBD 2021 Anaemia Collaborators. Lancet Haematology 2023 · PMID 37536353
- About a third of men and post-menopausal women with iron-deficiency anemia have an underlying problem, most often in the gut, and gut cancers can show up this way before any other symptom. That is why we refer.Snook J, et al. (British Society of Gastroenterology) Gut 2021 · PMID 34497146
- Pills alone are slow: once-daily oral iron raised hemoglobin by about 1 g/dL over three months.Patel N, et al. JAMA Network Open 2024 · PMID 38819821
Questions
Common questions
What kind of anemia do I have?
Your blood tests tell us. A complete blood count shows the size and color of your red cells, and ferritin, iron studies, vitamin B12 and folate point to the cause.
I’m a man, or past menopause. Why the referral?
Because about a third of men and post-menopausal women with iron-deficiency anemia have an underlying cause, most often in the gut. Finding it matters more than the iron.
Can IV iron fix it?
If the cause is iron deficiency, IV iron refills stores directly. It does not treat anemia from vitamin B12 deficiency, kidney disease or inherited conditions; those need their own plan.
Why does my anemia keep coming back?
Because the cause is still there. Replacing iron without finding why it was lost leaves the leak open.
Decide today
Find out why it keeps coming back.
Labs, IV iron in clinic when it is iron, and a search for the cause.
Educational, not medical advice. A physician makes the final decision at your visit. Not for emergencies: call 911.