Iron metabolism. By Thomas H. Bothwell and Clement A. Finch. 440 p. $15. Little, Brown & Co., 34 Beacon St, Boston 6, Mass., 1962
Iron deficiency, the world's most common cause of anemia, has been found in the United States in more than one fourth of young children and in more than one tenth of young and middle-aged women. It always represents a need for iron in excess of the actual amount absorbed. Body needs are greater than average during periods of growth, during pregnancy, and when menstrual losses are excessive. A diet poor in iron may fail to meet such increased needs, but is rarely, if ever, the sole cause of iron deficiency. Occult gastrointestinal blood loss, from malignancy or other lesion, is the most common cause of iron deficiency in patients who demonstrate none of the physiologic reasons for increased iron need. Fully-developed iron deficiency anemia is readily