Symptoms
Symptoms of iron deficiency can occur even before the condition has progressed to iron deficiency anaemia.
Symptoms of iron deficiency are not unique to iron deficiency (i.e. not pathognomonic). Iron is needed for many enzymes to function normally, so a wide range of symptoms may eventually emerge, either as the secondary result of the anemia, or as other primary results of iron deficiency. Symptoms of iron deficiency include:
- fatigue
- dizziness
- pallor
- hair loss
- irritability
- weakness
- pica
- brittle or grooved nails
- Plummer-Vinson syndrome: painful atrophy of the mucous membrane covering the tongue, the pharynx and the esophagus
- impaired immune function
- pagophagia
- restless legs syndrome
Read more about this topic: Iron Deficiency
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