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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Iron deficiency anemia can be a problem for women of childbearing age and children. For women, blood losses that occur during menstruation can result in iron-deficiency anemia. Pregnancy and breast feeding can further deplete iron in women.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Children are at risk for anemia because many begin life with low iron as infants. Over time, many kids don&amp;amp;#39;t get enough iron in their diets to meet their needs either. Iron deficiency is the result&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Not At Risk Means Iron Deficiency A Red Flag&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;For healthy men and post-menopausal women, the risk of iron deficiency anemia is very low. In fact, iron deficiency anemia is so uncommon in men and older women that when it does occur, it is a big red flag something may be wrong. And it&amp;amp;#39;s a red flag you shouldn&amp;amp;#39;t ignore.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Low Iron Can Point to Colorectal Cancer&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1463-1318.2010.02488.x/abstract&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;new study on iron deficiency anemia and colon cancer&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; points to a problem during medical care and follow up. Researchers considered 628,882 patients, 40 years of age or older, who were screened for iron deficiency anemia as part of routine medical care. They found that 3.1%, or 19,349 patients, had iron deficiency anemia. Here&amp;amp;#39;s where things get interesting.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Three percent of the patients with iron deficiency anemia, or 578 people, were later found to have colon cancer. But how long it took to get to a diagnosis of colon cancer varied widely in the group.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In the patients later found to have colon cancer as a cause of iron deficiency anemia, the time to diagnosis ranged from 2.5 to 31.9 months! That means some people received a diagnosis of colon cancer within a couple of months of finding out they had anemia. For others, it took nearly three years to get a colon cancer diagnosis! The biggest determinant of how long it took to get a colon cancer diagnosis was the type of health care specialist a person saw for follow up.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Be Your Own Health Advocate&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This study took place in Great Britain, which has a different system of health care than the United States. This means that if this study were conducted here the results may be somewhat different.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;However, it is quite likely that there would be delays in colon cancer diagnosis stateside too. It&amp;amp;#39;s even possible that the diagnosis would take longer here, given how fractured our system of health care is and the confusion many people have over what their insurance will and won&amp;amp;#39;t cover in terms of medical tests.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;All of this points to something important: &amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;We all need to be our own health advocates&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;. If you receive any type of test for which the results aren&amp;amp;#39;t completely normal, you need to make sure you follow up with your health care provider. Don&amp;amp;#39;t take no for an answer.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ask your doctor to help you carefully and systematically rule out all of the things that may be causing anemia, or any other condition or abnormal blood tests you receive.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.verywell.com/anemia-can-signal-colon-cancer-3974312>