The Iron In Every Woman

It can be great to be a woman living in 2019. We have our first female Deputy Prime Minister and more women in our government than before.

- Lim Teck Choon

Women have more access to education, career and social rights than before. Things can be better, of course, hence this year, for International Women’s Day, we are calling for #BalanceforBetter.

However, making great strides require iron in both fortitude and health. No matter how strong one’s fortitude can be, one also requires iron – the mineral – as it is an essential component of health. Unfortunately, iron deficiency in women is far more common than it should be.

Hence, HealthToday is pleased to invite you to join us this month as two experienced experts have kindly shared with us their insight on this subject.

IRON DEFICIENCY: IT’S MORE THAN JUST ANAEMIA

Oxygen is essential to convert the calories in the food we eat into energy, which then powers many essential functions of the body. It is transported in red blood cells, and iron is needed to make these cells. Hence, if our body is a factory, then that of someone with iron deficiency (ID) is comparable to a factory that is running on low efficiency due to shortage of power.

Most people usually equate ID to anaemia, a condition in which the red blood cells do not carry enough oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. However, Dr Jameela Sathar explains that ID doesn’t spring up abruptly overnight – anaemia is actually the manifestation of advanced ID.

“You can go on for many years before developing anaemia,” she says about people who have ID.

WE NEED A CHANGE IN HOW WE USUALLY DETECT ID