for anemia of chronic disease is to treat the chronic disease successfully, but this is rarely possible. Parenteral iron is increasingly used for anemia in chronic renal disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There is low-certainty evidence that people receiving treatment for IBD-related anemia with Intravenous (IV) iron infusion may be 17% more likely to benefit than those given oral iron therapy, and could be 61% less likely to stop treatment early due to adverse effects. However, the type of IV iron preparation may influence the degree of both benefit and harm: Moderate-certainty evidence suggests that IV ferric carboxymaltose treatment may be 25% more likely to improve anemia than IV iron sucrose preparation. The risk of serious side effects such as bleeding, electrolyte depletion and cardiac arrest could be greater with ferric carboxymaltose therapy, however the certainty of this evidence is low. Erythropoietin treatment, which stimulates the production of red blood cell production, is sometimes used to treat severe or persistent anemia, both as amonotherapy and a combination therapy alongside IV iron, but is costly and the benefit is unclear. Very low-certainty evidence suggests that erythropoietin as a monotherapy may improve anemia more than a placebo. Any additional benefit of treating someone with erythropoietin in combination with IV iron sucrose treatment is not clear. Limiting some microbes' access to iron can reduce their virulence, thereby potentially reducing the severity of infection. Blood transfusion to patients with anemia of chronic disease is associated with a higher mortality, supporting the concept. See also List of circulatory system conditions List of hematologic conditions References External links National Anemia Action Council Anemias