Iron deficiency and heart health
Iron deficiency may develop iron deficiency anaemia, where the body doesn’t have enough iron to adequately produce red blood cells, which are responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body. While it’s especially common in developing countries and among women of reproductive age. In India, females are more prone to have iron deficiency anaemia and that further may contribute to the worsening of heart health.
While iron deficiency anaemia can make heart conditions worse — or even cause them, if it’s severe enough — any damage can usually be reversed if the anaemia is detected and treated early enough. Here’s what you should know about iron deficiency anaemia and its impact on heart health.
The symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia are caused by inadequate oxygen in the body’s tissues. Tiredness is the most common symptom in the majority of people that have the condition.
Other common symptoms may include dizziness or fainting and lack of mental sharpness. In some cases, people experience the urge to eat abnormal things like dirt or chalk — a condition known as pica. In mild to moderate anaemia, symptoms like fatigue may not be very pronounced.
In people with heart failure, iron deficiency is associated with worse exercise performance, along with a higher rate of hospitalization and death from all causes if it’s allowed to progress.
In cases of severe anaemia, the heart tends to compensate for the lack of red blood cells reaching the body’s tissues by pumping faster, a condition known as “tachycardia.”
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