Why Teenage Girls and Women Have a
Higher Risk of Iron Deficiency than Men

Menstruation and Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

From puberty through the childbearing years, females need more iron than males because they lose iron with each menstrual period. Teenage girls and women who have heavy periods are at risk of depleting their stores of iron and developing iron deficiency anemia. Heavy menstrual bleeding is, in fact, the most common cause of anemia in women.

Symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding, also called menorrhagia, include:

• Soaking through a tampon and/or pad every hour
  or less for several hours in a row
• Needing to use double protection during your period
• Having to change your pad or tampon during the night
• Having large blood clots in your menstrual flow
• Periods that last longer than 7 days
• Severe cramping

If you are having symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding, it is very important for you to talk to your healthcare professional. You could be losing more than twice as much blood as normal. And more than twice as much iron.

Pregnancy

When women are pregnant, they need about twice as much iron as usual. This additional iron is necessary for two reasons: to supply the large amounts of iron needed by a growing fetus, and to be able to compensate for any loss of blood during delivery.

If you are pregnant or postpartum, and you have any symptoms of anemia, it is very important to talk to your healthcare professional. If you are diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, he or she may prescribe either oral iron supplements or intravenous iron. The benefit of intravenous iron is that it can bring your iron level back to normal and correct anemia more quickly.