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Anaemia - iron deficiency - Management
What are the symptoms?
- Symptoms associated with iron deficiency anaemia will depend on how quickly the anaemia develops. For example, people with chronic, slow blood loss may be able to tolerate very low levels of haemoglobin with few symptoms.
- Symptoms commonly include fatigue, dyspnoea, and palpitations.
- Less common symptoms include:
- Headache.
- Tinnitus.
- Taste disturbance.
- Pruritus.
- Pica (abnormal dietary cravings, e.g. ice, clay).
- Sore tongue.
- Dysphagia (in association with oesophageal web which occurs in Patterson-Brown-Kelly or Plummer-Vinson syndromes).
- Otherwise healthy people with slow-onset anaemia may present with fatigue and dyspnoea on exertion as their only symptoms.
- Serious symptoms such as angina, marked ankle oedema, or dyspnoea at rest are unlikely at haemoglobin concentrations of more than 7 g/dL unless there is additional heart or lung pathology. Angina may occur if there is pre-existing coronary artery disease.
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