Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) and the Brain

Inclusion Criteria:

* Observational arm:

  1. Age between 16 and 60 years of age.
  2. Any ethnicity.
  3. Female
  4. Anemic group: hemoglobin ≤10.5 g/dl or hematocrit \<32% from finger prick or plethysmography test, or \<11 g/dl from venipuncture blood draw
  5. Control group: hemoglobin \>13.2 g/dl or hematocrit \>39.6%
* Interventional arm:

  1. Criteria for observational component, plus
  2. Iron deficiency anemia based upon attending hematologist interpretation of transferrin saturation, ferritin, and other ancillary labs including hs-CRP, MMA, hemoglobin electrophoresis

Exclusion Criteria:

* Observational arm:

  1. Diabetes requiring medication.
  2. Hypertension requiring medication.
  3. Sleep disordered breathing requiring intervention.
  4. Body mass index \>40 (morbid obesity)
  5. Contraindications to MRI, including pacemaker, severe claustrophobia, pregnancy.
  6. Known systemic inflammatory disease such as inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, or scleroderma.
  7. Known HIV.
* Interventional arm:

  1. Criteria for observational component, plus
  2. Prior reaction to intravenous iron.
  3. History of multiple drug allergies.
  4. History of severe asthma, eczema, or atopy.
  5. Systemic mastocytosis.
  6. Severe respiratory or cardiac disease.
  7. Having no access to a physician who can manage the iron deficiency anemia.