Nearly one-third of Americans have some iron deficiency

( NewsNation ) — Twenty-nine percent of Americans don’t have enough iron in their bodies, or the iron isn’t doing what it’s supposed to in their bodies, according to a new study.

The study of more than 8,000 adults conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that 14% have absolute iron deficiency, and 15% have functional iron deficiency.

Absolute iron deficiency, also known as overt iron deficiency, refers to a severe reduction or complete absence of iron stores in the body. Functional iron deficiency means that there are adequate iron stores in the body, but the iron is not readily available for the body to use, including red blood cell production.

Iron deficiency is often linked to anemia, the condition in which the body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells. However, the study found that iron deficiency is also common in people without anemia.

The numbers come from an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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