On June 27, 2023, researchers published a population based analysis of the prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Females in the US who were aged 12-21 Years. This study spanned from 2003 to 2020. What they found was staggering: Almost 40% of American teenage girls and young women had iron deficiency. This was published in JAMA. It's the first research to look at iron deficiency in young women and adolescent girls. Iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia are both common, underappreciated conditions with significant morbidity and mortality despite widespread availability of effective treatment. Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide and is the most frequent cause of anaemia. Historically, the focus of screening has been preschool-aged and pregnant females. The CDC-P recommends anemia screening for nonpregnant female adolescents and women every 5 to 10 years, whereas the USPSTF does not address screening for these populations. Ands that’s for anemia, not iron-deficiency alone. Oh, and that CDC recommendation is from 1998! That’s right, no update since 1998. Also, guidelines from the ACOG focus only on anemia during pregnancy. But now, and here’s a clinical pearls: This year, for the first time in its history, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics issued a recommendation that all women and girls who menstruate should regularly be screened for iron deficiency, not just for anemia and not just during pregnancy. This was recently picked up as a story in the New York Times, being published on October 17, 2023. And here’s another clinical pearl… It is completely possible for someone with normal hemoglobin levels to still have iron deficiency. So in this episode, we’re going to address the new FIGO guidelines and review why a “screening CBC“ just does not have the sensitivity to detect iron deficiency in reproductive age women. We will also review the appropriate screening test for this condition, as well as review basic iron physiology.