Doctor advises what to eat to help an iron deficiency

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A 20-year-old woman was caught up in a road accident after a “brief loss of consciousness” due to a stroke. After her accident, doctors performed several tests that revealed she had no underlying health issues other than iron deficiency anaemia. Doctor’s described the case as “intriguing” as it’s unusual for iron deficiency to cause stroke.

According to the case report, published in Case Reports in Medicine, before the crash, the woman had a “sensation of dizziness with blurring of vision” and passed out briefly.

The woman reportedly woke up “within a few minutes” of being knocked out and was alert.

When she visited the hospital, she had some chest pain caused by the airbag but “did not have any signs of significant trauma”.

But she had weakness in the left side of her body, a typical symptom of a stroke.

Further tests showed other symptoms of a stroke. She was unable to keep her eyes balanced when closed – known as a Romberg sign – which is linked to stroke.

Yet, a CT scan showed no signs that blood was restricted from the brain – one of the main causes of stroke. The doctors also did a number of other physical tests that failed to explain the presence of her symptoms.

The only noticeable health issue that the doctors spotted was low levels of iron in the blood. In a lab test, she had an iron saturation of just six percent.

Normal levels of iron are between 35.5 and 44.9 percent for adult women, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The authors of the study wrote: “The case of our patient who suffered an ischaemic stroke at 20 years of age is intriguing because a thorough diagnostic work-up did not reveal any clear etiology [causes] apart from severe IDA [iron deficiency anaemia].”

Iron is an essential part of haemoglobin, a substance that carries oxygen around the body. But when iron levels are low, the body produces insufficient amounts of haemoglobin.

The amount of haemoglobin the woman had was 5.8 milligrams per decilitre of blood. A healthy amount for a woman is between 11.6 and 15 grams.

Iron deficiency may also make your blood more sticky, which can increase stroke risk, according to past research.

In one 2014 study by Imperial College London, researchers found that blood clotting was magnified by iron deficiency.

In the study, the blood platelets of participants were treated with a substance that encourages blood clotting. The platelets of people with low iron levels stuck together fastest.

Platelets are cells in the blood that cause it to clot. They are typically activated when a blood vessel is damaged.

What are the symptoms of iron deficiency?

According to the NHS, the main symptoms include:

• tiredness and lack of energy
• shortness of breath
• noticeable heartbeats (heart palpitations)
• pale skin

The health body encourages you to visit your GP if you spot these signs.

Your doctor will be able to find out if you have iron deficiency anaemia with a simple blood test.

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