Anaemia often strikes silently

WHEN asked to participate in a recent blood drive, several women I know volunteered immediately as donors. To their great surprise, two were turned away – not because their blood was dangerous to others, but because they were anaemic. Both women immediately followed up with their doctors and learned that their anaemia was caused by iron deficiency.  

A recent report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that about one in 10 adolescent girls and pre-menopausal women in the United States is iron-deficient. In about half of these cases, the deficiency is severe enough to affect the production and quality of red blood cells, causing anaemia.