If the body uses up its stores, iron deficiency can lead to a reduction in hemoglobin and the number of healthy red blood cells, called anemia. So someone with normal hemoglobin levels might still have low levels of iron, Dr. Munro said. There are other forms of anemia, including inherited red blood cell disorders like sickle cell disease, but anemia caused by iron deficiency is the most common type in the U.S. During pregnancy, when the demand for iron in the mother, the placenta and the growing fetus increases, so too does the risk that iron deficiency turns into anemia. Complicating matters, there is debate among medical institutions about what is considered a healthy amount of iron in the blood.

---

Persons: Munro, Angela Weyand, Michael Georgieff, Weyand Organizations: U.S, University of Michigan Medical, Masonic Institute, University of Minnesota, World Health Organization