Is there a surefire way to tell if one suffers iron deficiency anemia?
Surefire way? No. Because if you want to call an anemia, iron deficiency anemia you have to see that iron level is low and iron binding capacity is high in blood. So you need to have a blood check up. But check the finger nails of the patient. ‘Koilonychia’ which is curved shape of nails with a central depression (you can see pictures of it if you search in google) is associated with cases of iron def. anemia. But its presence or not does not confirm or rule out the diagnosis. If the anemia is due to chronic blood loss then it is mostly iron def. anemia.
