From persistent tiredness and shortness of breath to chest pain and spoon-shaped nails, the popular GP has highlighted the key symptoms that could indicate iron deficiency
Dr Amir Khan, who is well known for his appearances on TV shows including Good Morning Britain and Lorraine has shared five symptoms of iron deficiency after being inundated with questions following his TikTok video on the subject.
He explains that Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common type of anaemia. It happens when your body doesn’t have enough iron to make haemoglobin.
“That’s the substance in your red blood cells that allows them to carry oxygen throughout your body. Now, normally, your body brings in a steady flow of iron from the food that you eat.
“Your body stores excess iron so it’s available as needed to make haemoglobin. But if you are not getting enough iron, or it’s being lost faster than it’s being replaced, you will become deficient in iron.
“There are lots of different causes, but common ones include not getting enough iron in your diet, losing it through things like heavy periods. Ladies, heavy periods are not normal. Get them sorted with your clinician.
“Gut illnesses like celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease, and in some cases iron deficiency anaemia can be a sign of underlying cancer.”
Here are Dr Khan’s five signs and symptoms you may be iron deficient.
1. Tiredness
Iron helps your body make the red pigment in your blood that carries oxygen to all your organs. If you don’t have enough iron, you won’t be able to carry as much oxygen around your body, depriving it of vital energy, making you tired.
2 Shortness of breath and chest pain
When haemoglobin, the red pigment in your blood cells, are low, with iron deficiency, oxygen levels are typically low. This means that your muscles won’t receive enough oxygen to do everyday activities such as walking. As a result, breathing rate will increase as your body tries to get more oxygen in, resulting in shortness of breath.
Your heart is also working harder to put more oxygen you have around your body, and an unhappy, hard working heart will tell you it’s unhappy by giving you chest pain.
3. Cracks in the corners of your mouth
Iron also plays a key role in skin health and wound healing, and if you are low, you can get sores in the corners of your mouth. This is called angular cheilitis.
4. Your nails are brittle or spoon shaped.
This condition is called Koilonychia. Your nails look concave like spoons instead of growing flat.
5. Restless legs
Iron deficiency can lead to restless leg syndrome as it can drop dopamine in your blood. This condition involves a strong urge to move your legs while they’re at rest, or it may cause unpleasant crawling or itching sensations in your feet and legs.
It’s usually worse at night and can make it difficult to sleep. There are, of course, other causes for restless legs, but iron deficiency is one of them.”
The doctor recommended different ways to get iron into your diet, “Now, good sources of iron in our food include liver or red meat, shellfish, or if you’re vegetarian, legumes and pumpkin seeds are great. But if you’re worried about iron deficiency anaemia, always speak to a healthcare professional.”
Follow Dr Amie Khan on doctoramirkhan
