*Edited by Luis Rodrigo*

Iron defciency (ID) and iron defciency anemia (IDA) are prevalent conditions all over the world. Te groups at highest risk are children, pre-menopausal women and socially disadvantaged people. Diagnose of ID using a full blood examination and iron studies can be difculted by concomitant infammation. Management of ID involves identifcation and treatment of its cause, as well as efective iron replacement. Patients who fail to respond to iron replacement will performed an endoscopy to exclude internal bleeding. Both enteral and parenteral iron are efective at replacing iron. For adult patients, we recommend trialling daily oral iron (30-100 mg of iron) as the frst-line therapy. Patients who fail to respond to oral iron replacement can be safely managed with intravenous iron.

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