You feel tired, tired and still have trouble falling asleep: Much work and stress must be the cause. Or you want to lose weight, do everything right and the kilos persist nonetheless. That behind these problems could be iron deficiency, is still far too little anchored in our consciousness. Because the trace element ensures the formation of the red blood pigment hemoglobin, which in turn is responsible for the transport of oxygen. Particularly affected by an iron deficit are women. The consequences of this and how to best prevent or compensate for the deficiency and recognize the symptoms, have given us a general medical doctor. Doris Gapp and gynecologist dr. Johannes Seidel (both womanandhealth.at) answered. Iron makes you balanced & beautiful! "A deficit in the trace element has many faces," explains Dr. Doris Gapp. Constant tiredness, which does not improve even with sufficient sleep, listlessness and headaches are typical symptoms of iron deficiency, including sleep problems, dizziness and difficulty concentrating good, because the metabolism is impaired, all this brings with it dissatisfaction, depressive moods and irritability, but often the cause is not recognized, because the symptoms are very wide-ranging and can be attributed to other illnesses or stress Hair loss, brittle nails and torn corners of the mouth Iron makes for good circulation Iron contributes to the transport of oxygen in the blood A deficiency causes less oxygen to be carried and you feel exhausted Two groups have higher iron requirements from the outset: Pregnant women and endurance athletes In pregnancy, additional blood must be produced to ensure that the uterus is well supplied with blood. Intensive training may result in shocks that cause harmless microbleeds in the gastrointestinal mucosa. This will lose iron.
So the doctor determines iron deficiency: Whether one is affected, is determined with a blood test. But the iron content alone is not enough to detect a defect. Also ferritin (iron storage protein), transferrin (iron transport protein) and hemoglobin must be determined. Women with heavy menstruation, breastfeeding patients, patients who have lost a lot of blood and vegetarians (iron gets more easily into the body through meat) are also particularly affected. Attention: The ferritin value may be increased by an infection, thus a deficiency would not be recognizable. This can be clarified by measuring the inflammation value.

Ferrous foods: Spinach and nuts Ferrous foods: "Those who belong to the risk group must pay particular attention to a balanced diet," said Dr. Johannes Seidel.Much iron is found in meat, liver and black pudding, legumes, nuts and artichokes But vegetable iron, a trivalent compound, is less well absorbed by the body than animal, a divalent, counteracting it by the simultaneous ingestion of vitamin C (such as orange juice, lemon juice), which turns the vegetable iron into a divalent compound Tannin, which is found in tea, coffee and red wine, inhibits absorption and iron boosts the desire to have sex! One study found that women with low libido often suffer from ferritin deficiency. "Sexual listlessness is still on the rise rarely thought of an iron deficiency ", Dr. Johannes Seidel from the practice. Especially symptoms like fatigue and listlessness are responsible for the loss of libido. Women with particularly heavy menstruation and correspondingly high blood loss, especially affects this problem. Iron for dementia. The adequate supply of iron is more difficult in older people: loss of appetite and chronic problems such as heart failure or kidney disease reduce the absorption of the nutrient. Because of concentration and memory disorders, dementia is first thought of in older people. After an iron therapy, the symptoms improve but often. Thus, if signs indicate a deficiency, accurate history and a blood count are important. Iron makes us more efficient! Untreated iron deficiency leads to anemia sooner or later. "In an anemia, the production of the red blood pigment is disturbed, and in most cases the number of erythrocytes, the red blood cells, is very low," explains Dr. Gapp. Anemia is manifested, for example, in limited physical performance and respiratory distress on exercise It is extremely important to check the iron levels if you suspect iron is administered There are three different treatment options:

• With very slight deficiency, a change in diet can solve the problem. However, this requires a lot of discipline and endurance of the patient.

• Light to moderate deficiency is treated with tablets, which can cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhea or constipation. The correct intake (according to the leaflet) is very important.

• If there is a severe deficiency, patients are advised to use intravenous iron therapy. The infusion is given on an outpatient basis, has the fastest effect and is well tolerated. But it is also relatively expensive and is only accepted in exceptional cases by the health insurance. Cost per infusion: From € 40, -, usually only available from the private doctor. Eisencheck-centers: In Vienna: Woman & Health (womanandhealth.at), Loha for Life (lohaforlife.at), Doctors in the center in St. PГ¶lten (im-zentrum.net), Prophy Docs in Graz (prophy-docs.at), Cardiomed in Linz (cardiomed.at), Dr. med. Rudolf Ischia in Innsbruck (internist-innsbruck.com). More addresses & more information on the subject: eisencheck.at.