Daily Dose: Role of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Iron Deficiency Anemia Overlooked

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Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

Last week, we reported on a review published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The study

An expert review of the relationship between heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), iron deficiency (ID), and ID anemia (IDA) in reproductive-aged women.

The findings

According to authors, HMB, ID, and IDA often negatively impact the lives of reproductive-aged girls and women, as well as children they may bear.

Authors' commentary

"Although the World Health Organization and related funding organizations recognize that anemia is a highly prevalent worldwide contributor to disability disproportionally affecting reproductive-aged girls and women, in our opinion, [the organization is] missing a core root cause, if not the dominant cause: ID related to menstrual bleeding that exceeds a woman’s dietary intake."

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