aetiology
Last edited 05/2020 and last reviewed 10/2023
Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is often multifactorial. In pre menopausal women the most common cause of IDA is menstrual blood loss while in adult men and postmenopausal women, blood loss from the GI tract is the most common cause (1).
Occult GI blood loss
- aspirin/NSAID use
- colonic carcinoma
- gastric carcinoma
- benign gastric ulceration
- angiodysplasia
- uncommon causes - oesophagitis, other gastrointestinal tract malignancies
Malabsorption
- coeliac disease
- gastrectomy
- helicobacter pylori colonisation
- uncommon causes - gut resection, bacterial overgrowth
Non-GI blood loss
- gynaecological - menstruation, pregnancy
- inadequate dietary intake - vegans, elderly
- blood donation- uncommon
- rarely - haematuria, epistaxis
In the tropics the high prevalence of iron deficiency is related to poor diet and to blood loss from hookworm infestation.
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