Who Does Anemia Affect? Women Of Color Are More Likely To Have An Iron Deficiency, & Scientists Are Stumped As To Why

Iron deficiency anemia, in which the body lacks enough iron to create the substance hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood, is a pretty common condition, particularly among women. The New York Times estimates that anemia affects up to 2 billion people worldwide, but in America there’s a seriously notable disparity in anemia diagnoses not only between men and women, but between women of color and white women. 2007 data indicates that 9-12 percent of non-Hispanic white women in the U.S. have iron deficiency anemia, but that number jumps to nearly 20 percent in Black and Hispanic women. The question is: why?

A serious lack of iron can cause pregnancy complications, stress on the heart, fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, and a host of other unpleasant problems. Understanding the root cause of higher iron deficiency anemia levels among women of color is the key to solving a pretty serious mystery, but it’s one that scientists are still trying to figure out. Is it, as with many racially disparate health outcomes, down to structural racism that meanscommunities of color are at a health disadvantage? Or is it something else that’s yet to be unravelled? Bustle talked to Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, a natural medicine specialist, about the story behind anemia in women of color. “There are many layers to the question of disparity and I don’t think there is one easy answer,” she says.

Why Anemia Is So Common For Women Of Color

High-iron beans released in Rwanda in 2012 have been shown to reverse iron deficiency & anemia in young women https://t.co/hVKNWlvOTc pic.twitter.com/F2tfpmgxrf

— CIAT (@CIAT_) July 5, 2017

The difference between anemia levels in white women and women of color has been known for quite a long time in the medical community; data on it dates back at least 30 years. Figuring out why it happens, though, is an ongoing process. Women are more at risk for iron deficiency problems in general, scientists believe, because of menstruation. Humans can only get iron through absorbing it through diet, and losing some blood monthly has an impact on overall iron levels, particularly if your periods are particularly heavy. (People with heavy menstrual flows are often warned about iron deficiency by their primary care doctor and given supplements to help out.)

Researchers have been trying to pinpoint the reasons behind the racial disparity for a long time, and have often come up short. A study by the U.S. Department of Health in 1992 of 2515 people found that iron consumption itself didn’t seem to offer an explanation for the hemoglobin level differences between Black and white Americans. And a massive study published in 2009 that took place over four years, looking at 19,836 Black and white Americans, found that Black Americans were 3.3 times more likely to have anemia — but there seemed to be no strong tie to socioeconomic factors, demographics, or other conditions. They found that white Americans with vascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension were more likely to have anemia, but those factors …

Please read original article- Who Does Anemia Affect? Women Of Color Are More Likely To Have An Iron Deficiency, & Scientists Are Stumped As To Why