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Anemia means you do not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body. That is why it shows up as tiredness, breathlessness and light-headedness rather than pain anywhere in particular.
It is not one disease. HealthLink BC groups the causes three ways: losing blood, not making enough red blood cells, or destroying them too fast. Treatment follows the cause, not the low number.
It is also not the same as iron deficiency. Iron deficiency means low iron stores, the most common nutritional cause of anemia worldwide, but you can be iron deficient with a normal haemoglobin, and anemic for reasons unrelated to iron. There is a separate page here on iron deficiency. Anemia is a finding that raises a question: why.
Symptoms build slowly, so they are easy to put down to age or a busy life.
Some things cannot be changed:
Others can often be worked on, usually with support from a health care team:
Anemia shows up on a complete blood count, often during a routine check. The size of the red blood cells points to different causes, with small cells suggesting iron deficiency and large cells suggesting B12 or folate deficiency. The tests then follow the suspicion: ferritin, B12 and folate, kidney function and markers of inflammation. In adults, unexplained anemia usually prompts a search for a source of bleeding, which can mean endoscopy or colonoscopy.
Treating the cause decides the rest. A health care team may discuss:
More iron is not automatically better: the survey that found iron deficiency in 7% of Canadians found high iron stores in 17.2%. What fits you is a decision for you and your clinician.
Canada’s picture of anemia is out of date: the most recent national measurement of haemoglobin comes from the Canadian Health Measures Survey covering 2009 to 2011. Estimates are method-dependent too: national iron deficiency figures move between 7% and 12.6% for the same population depending on how inflammation is handled. Anemia in older adults is common in Canadian data and often treated as part of ageing rather than a finding to investigate, even though the causes differ and some matter. Trials are comparing oral and intravenous iron, and testing treatment in kidney disease.
Studies are how those questions get answered. Taking part is voluntary, informed consent comes first, and you can stop at any time without affecting your regular care. No one can say whether a study will help you personally.
This page is written in plain language for people considering clinical research. It is general health information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a conversation with your own doctor or nurse practitioner.
No. Iron deficiency means your iron stores are low. Anemia means you do not have enough red blood cells or haemoglobin to carry oxygen properly. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional cause of anemia worldwide according to the World Health Organization, and Canadian survey data found 2.0% of people aged 3 to 79 had iron deficiency anemia. But you can be iron deficient with a normal haemoglobin, and you can be anemic for reasons unrelated to iron: in the Statistics Canada analysis, most people found to have anemia did not have markers pointing to iron deficiency. This site has a separate page on iron deficiency.
HealthLink BC groups the causes three ways. You can be losing blood, from heavy periods or from bleeding inside the body such as an ulcer. You can be making too few red blood cells, because of low iron, folate, vitamin B12 or vitamin C, because of pregnancy demands, or because of a long-term condition such as kidney disease, arthritis, diabetes or cancer. Or your red blood cells can be destroyed faster than they are replaced, as in inherited conditions like sickle cell disease and thalassemia, or with treatments such as chemotherapy. Which group applies decides what treatment makes sense.
Iron only helps if iron is the problem, and iron is a medicine rather than a default. Canadian survey data shows why: the same national survey that found iron deficiency in 7% of people aged 3 to 79 found elevated iron stores in 17.2%, mostly in adult men. Anemia caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, by kidney disease, by inflammation or by an inherited condition needs different treatment. In adults, low iron is also often a clue that something is bleeding, and British Columbia guidance sets out when a source of bleeding is looked for. What fits your situation is a decision for you and your own clinician.
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