Iron Disorders

IRON DEFICIENCIES IN ATHLETES

Introduction:

Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency amongst all populations in the world. A staggering 15% of the population suffers from this nutrient deficiency. An iron deficiency is more commonly known as anemia. Anemia is defined as a condition where hemoglobin concentrations are low irrespective of the cause.

Iron is known as an essential nutrient. This means that your body is not able to synthesize it by itself and needs to get it from an outside source, mostly from your diet. Anemia is a condition where the body’s ability to transport oxygen to various parts of the body is compromised.

What is an iron deficiency?

An iron deficiency can be defined as a condition when the body’s …show more content…
It is for this reason why iron deficiencies are often misdiagnosed in athletes.

The following symptoms are commonly seen in iron deficient athletes:

 Prolonged fatigue & weakness
 Recurrent injuries
 Loss of endurance and power
 Frequent illness
 Irritability
 Appetite Loss
 No interest in exercise
 Breathlessness

These symptoms might assist you to identify if you possible might have an iron deficiency, but the only sure way to find out if you are anemic is to do a blood test where your iron status is determined.

It is important to know that an iron deficiency does not happen instantaneously. It starts out slowly and is aggravated by poor dietary intake of iron. A poor diet then forces the body to use iron stores (reserves). As a tank, these reserves have a set limit and if they are used on a regular basis, these reserves will become depleted. The physiological effect is that you then produce red blood cells that are smaller than normal which will contain less hemoglobin and result in a subsequent oxygen …show more content…
Vegetarian athletes normally eliminate meat from their diet. Meat is the most biologically active source of iron. The iron that is obtained from fruit, vegetables and cereals are poorly absorbed by the body.

3. Endurance athletes mostly lose iron through intestinal bleeding, sweat, urine and faeces. Marathon runners also run the risk of breaking small blood vessels in the soles of their feet from repetitive pounding and in the process lose iron.

4. Growing athletes expand their blood volume during growth spurts. Due to this, there is an augmented necessity for iron in an effort to produce hemoglobin.

Consequences of low iron stores

Iron deficiency is related to changed metabolic processes, including neurotransmitter synthesis, protein synthesis etc. The obvious physical indicators of chronic iron deficiency is glossitis (soreness of the tongue), angular stomatitis (inflammation of the corners of the mouth), koilonychias (spoon nails), blue sclera (eyes), esophageal webbing and anemia. Behavioural instabilities such as pica (consumption of dirt and ice) are often existent in persons with iron deficiency, though the biological clarification is absent. Some examples are shown in figure 3.

Figure 3 – Consequences of low iron stores (google images)

Testing of iron

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