iron

and Eva Rudolf-Müller, doctor

Dr. med. Andrea Reiter is a freelance writer for the medical editorial team.

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Eva Rudolf-Müller is a freelance writer in the medical team. She studied human medicine and newspaper sciences and has repeatedly worked in both areas - as a doctor in the clinic, as a reviewer, and as a medical journalist for various specialist journals. She is currently working in online journalism, where a wide range of medicine is offered to everyone.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Iron (ferrum) is a so-called trace element that is mainly involved in the transport of oxygen in the body. It has to be ingested through food. Both an iron deficiency and an excess of iron can seriously disturb the organism and are sometimes associated with serious illnesses. Read everything you need to know about iron in the body!

What is iron

Iron is an element that is responsible for transporting oxygen in the human body. The human organism contains between 2 and 4 grams of iron. One third of iron is stored in the liver, spleen, intestinal lining and bone marrow. Two thirds of the iron is in the blood, bound to the red blood pigment hemoglobin. The inhaled oxygen is bound to the iron in the blood and transported to the organs.

Iron requirement

The iron content can only be regulated through food intake. Men need around ten milligrams of iron per day, women around 15 milligrams. The need for iron is increased in some situations, for example after bleeding, during pregnancy and after childbirth, and during menstruation. Then it is important to eat foods that are high in iron.

Iron, ferritin and transferritin

When people ingest iron through food, only a small amount gets into the blood through the intestinal cells. The rest of the iron is excreted again. In the blood, iron binds to a protein called transferrin. It brings the trace element to various organs and tissues. If the iron is to be stored, it is bound to the protein "ferritin" and deposited in this form in the organs.

In order to determine an iron deficiency or an excess of iron, the level of iron, ferritin and transferrin in the blood must always be determined. The iron level depends on age, gender and diet. An iron deficiency (iron values ​​too low) is more common than an iron excess (iron values ​​too high). The excess iron is deposited in some organs, especially the liver, and can cause organ damage there.

When do you determine the iron values?

The doctor determines the level of iron in the blood to diagnose iron deficiency or excess iron. An iron deficiency often manifests itself with chronic fatigue, dizziness, paleness, headache and reduced resilience. Too much iron in the blood is also noticeable through tiredness and poor concentration. In addition, the skin can become bronze and joint problems can occur.

In some diseases that also disrupt the iron metabolism, the iron content is determined to monitor the progress.

Iron - normal values

In women and men, iron blood levels are usually in the following ranges:

	age	Iron standard values
women	18 to 39 years	37 - 165 µg / dl
	40 to 59 years	23 - 134 µg / dl
	from 60 years	39 - 149 µg / dl
	around the 12th week of pregnancy	42 - 177 µg / dl
	on the due date	25 - 137 µg / dl
	6 weeks after birth	16 - 150 µg / dl
men	18 to 39 years	40 - 155 µg / dl
	40 to 59 years	35 - 168 µg / dl
	from 60 years	40 - 120 µg / dl

The iron standard values ​​for children and adolescents can be found in the next table, separated by gender and age:

age	Female	masculine
up to 4 weeks	29 - 112 µg / dl	32-127 µg / dl
1 to 12 months	25 - 126 µg / dl	27-109 µg / dl
1 to 2 years	25 - 101 µg / dl	29 - 91 µg / dl
3 to 5 years	28 - 93 µg / dl	25 - 115 µg / dl
6 to 8 years	30-104 µg / dl	27 - 96 µg / dl
9 to 11 years	32-104 µg / dl	28 - 112 µg / dl
12 to 14 years	30-109 µg / dl	26 - 110 µg / dl
15 to 17 years	33 - 102 µg / dl	27-138 µg / dl

When are the iron levels low?

There is not enough iron in the blood in the following diseases:

• Iron deficiency anemia (caused by bleeding, digestive tract disorders, diet, growth, pregnancy)
• Infections
• chronic inflammation
• Tumors

In addition to the iron value in the blood, the transferrin and ferritin content must always be determined. This is the only way to determine the cause of the iron metabolism disorder. In the case of inflammation, for example, the iron and ferritin levels in the blood are reduced. During pregnancy, on the other hand, the iron content in the blood is increased and the ferritin content decreased.

When are the iron levels increased?

If the iron level is too high, it can have a variety of causes. The most important are:

• Anemia caused by the destruction of red blood cells (haemolytic anemia)
• Anemia caused by decreased cell formation in the bone marrow (aplastic anemia)
• some time after large amounts of transfusions
• Iron storage disease (hemochromatosis)
• excessive iron intake (for example, during iron therapy)
• Blood cancer (leukemia)
• severe liver damage, for example in the case of hepatitis or heavy alcohol consumption

The iron level in the blood is also increased during pregnancy, but this is normal in this situation.

What to do if the iron value has changed

If there is too much iron in the blood or if the iron value is reduced, the ferritin and transferrin concentration as well as the number of red blood cells must also be determined. Only when these values ​​are available, the doctor can make a statement about the cause of the changed iron values.

In the case of iron deficiency due to reduced intake through food, iron can be taken in tablets. However, it is easier for the body to absorb from food and there are no side effects. There are vegetable and animal products that contain large amounts of iron (such as wheat bran, liver).

If the iron excess is severe, bloodletting is sometimes necessary. Here, as with a blood sample, a needle is placed in a vein. The doctor takes blood and thus iron through the needle.

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