Medical Center
Clear Lake
The Woodlands
Katy

OBGYN / PCP

Treatment

OBGYN/ PCP

Iron-deficiency anemia is a condition in which the body cannot meet the demands for maintaining iron throughout the body. This can occur for a variety of reasons, and also be a side effect of pregnancy, menstruation, and other chronic inflammatory diseases. Iron plays a critical role in the body in keeping it healthy. The body needs iron to make hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen.

The human body has a tightly controlled system for absorbing, using, and recycling iron. In this system, iron first goes to the bone marrow, where it combines with hemoglobin and is used to make red blood cells. Any extra iron that isn’t immediately needed for red blood cells is stored in body tissues. At the end of their lifespans, red blood cells are destroyed and the hemoglobin is broken down. The iron is returned to the bone marrow, where it’s used to make new red blood cells. 

Typically oral supplements and a change in diet are recommended in patients suffering with IDA. However, sometimes these methods do not allow for sufficient iron to be absorbed into the body. Our center offers various types of iron therapy, including Injectafer, Venofer, Ferrlecit, and Feraheme.