**6. Clinical presentation**

The clinical features of IDA depend on many factors including age group, comorbidity, anemia level, and speed of onset. Several symptoms may be present, some associated with all types of anemia such as pallor or asthenia. Other symptoms are caused by the iron deficiency that affects the epithelial cells, or in some cases, the symptoms may be caused by the disease which determined the disruption of iron metabolism.

Symptoms and signs resulting from anemia depend on the underlying cardiovascular status of the patient, most important being summarized in **Table 3**.

Depending on the underlying condition that caused the iron deficiency, the patients may- present different symptoms and signs such as abdominal pain, urinary and genital symptoms,- and respiratory disorders. The most frequent conditions associated with iron deficiency are- gastric and duodenal ulcers; hiatal hernia; digestive carcinomas; and surgical interventions- such as gastrectomy, intestinal resections, or urogenital pathology, for example, uterine fibroid, genital cancer in women, and kidney diseases that cause hematuria [46–48].


**Table 3.** Symptoms associated with iron deficiency.-
