Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia, and it occurs when your body doesn't have enough of the mineral iron. Your body needs iron to make ...HealthlineSubscribeIronDeficiencyAnemiaMedicallyreviewedbyShuvaniSanyal,M.D.—WrittenbyJacquelynCafasso—UpdatedonAugust3,2020SymptomsCausesRiskfactorsDiagnosisAnemiainwomenComplicationsTreatmentPreventionOutlookWeincludeproductswethinkareusefulforourreaders.Ifyoubuythroughlinksonthispage,wemayearnasmallcommission.Here’sourprocess.Whatisirondeficiencyanemia?Anemiaoccurswhenyouhaveadecreasedlevelofhemoglobininyourredbloodcells(RBCs).HemoglobinistheproteininyourRBCsthatisresponsibleforcarryingoxygentoyourtissues.Irondeficiencyanemiaisthemostcommontypeofanemia,anditoccurswhenyourbodydoesn’thaveenoughofthemineraliron.Yourbodyneedsirontomakehemoglobin.Whenthereisn’tenoughironinyourbloodstream,therestofyourbodycan’tgettheamountofoxygenitneeds.Whiletheconditionmaybecommon,manypeopledon’tknowtheyhaveirondeficiencyanemia.It’spossibletoexperiencethesymptomsforyearswithouteverknowingthecause.Inwomenofchildbearingage,themostcommoncauseofirondeficiencyanemiaisalossofironinthebloodduetoheavymenstruationorpregnancy.Apoordietorcertainintestinaldiseasesthataffecthowthebodyabsorbsironcanalsocauseirondeficiencyanemia.Doctorsnormallytreattheconditionwithironsupplementsorchangestodiet.SymptomsofirondeficiencyanemiaThesymptomsofirondeficiencyanemiacanbemildatfirst,andyoumaynotevennoticethem.AccordingtotheAmericanSocietyofHematology(ASH),mostpeopledon’trealizetheyhavemildanemiauntiltheyhavearoutinebloodtest.Thesymptomsofmoderatetosevereirondeficiencyanemiainclude:generalfatigueweaknesspaleskinshortnessofbreathdizzinessstrangecravingstoeatitemsthataren’tfood,suchasdirt,ice,orclayatinglingorcrawlingfeelinginthelegstongueswellingorsorenesscoldhandsandfeetfastorirregularheartbeatbrittlenailsheadachesCausesofirondeficiencyanemiaAccordingtotheASH,irondeficiencyisthemostcommoncauseofanemia.Therearemanyreasonswhyapersonmightbecomedeficientin