Articles
Answers to the questions I am asked most often, each written from the published evidence with its sources named.
All articles
A Practical Guide to Iron Deficiency and Anaemia
Iron status, symptoms, biomarkers and repletion, in one practical guide.
Read itIron infusions and doctor reluctance
Guidance that puts tablets first, the low-phosphate and skin-staining risks, thin evidence without anaemia, and when an infusion is a reasonable request.
Read itIron infusion thresholds
No single ferritin number qualifies you. The cut-offs used in each setting, and how the clinical situation decides the route.
Read itIron depletion over time
What blood donor trials show about how fast iron falls, how slowly it comes back, and why haemoglobin is the last to show it.
Read itFerritin targets for female athletes
The thresholds athlete research uses without a consensus number, what deficiency costs in performance, and where the ceiling sits.
Read itRunning with low ferritin
Why runners lose iron, how a run briefly raises hepcidin, and what the trials show about iron after morning training and on alternate days.
Read itIron tablets and a stalled ferritin
Hepcidin, why a bigger dose does not mean more iron, what the alternate-day evidence shows, and the causes worth ruling out.
Read itFerritin and fatigue
Why a result inside the reported range can still leave you exhausted, what that range measures, and what to ask for.
Read itSigns of iron deficiency beyond fatigue
Forgetfulness, feeling cold, hair loss, poor sleep and restless legs, and how many of these symptoms appear without anaemia.
Read itIron deficiency without anemia (IDNA)
Iron deficiency can be serious while haemoglobin stays normal. Why it is the diagnosis most often missed, and how to advocate for a proper workup.
Read itThe Iron Risk Check
The free assessment takes about two minutes. It walks through the risk factors and symptoms the research links to iron deficiency, and tells you whether a ferritin test is worth raising with your general practitioner (GP).