Pathological disorders associated with iron deficiency anaemia
| Chronic blood loss | |
| Digestive tract | Neoplastic—most commonly colonic adenocarcinoma |
| Inflammatory—for example, peptic ulceration, IBD | |
| Vascular malformations—angiodysplasia | |
| Parasitic—for example, hookworm | |
| Genito-urinary tract | Haematuria, pathological gynaecological bleeding—all causes, including malignancy |
| Respiratory tract | Recurrent epistaxis, haemoptysis—all causes |
| Malabsorption syndromes | |
| Hypochlorhydria | Atrophic gastritis |
| Helicobacter pylori infection | |
| Gastrectomy/gastric bypass | |
| Proton-pump inhibitors | |
| Iron chelation | Tea, coffee, calcium, flavonoids, oxalates, phytates Wide range of antacids, Pica syndrome |
| Enteropathies | Coeliac disease |
| Crohn’s disease | |
| NSAID enteropathy | |
| Rarer enteropathies, for example, Whipple’s disease, bacterial overgrowth | |
| Small bowel surgery | Small bowel resection/bypass |
| Genetic disorders | Iron-refractory iron deficiency anaemia |
| Divalent metal transporter 1 deficiency anaemia | |
| Associated with the anaemia of chronic disease | |
| Chronic heart failure | |
| Chronic kidney disease | |
| Chronic inflammatory disorders | For example rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease |
NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.