Mr Toby Richards is a Professor of Surgery at University College London. He has pioneered anaemia management and intravenous iron therapy in the UK. His underlying belief is that optimising patient’s health and fitness before surgery will improve their recovery and benefit their outcomes. He has embedded clinical research and development into all areas of practice.

Iron Consultation

  What is included in an Iron Consultation?   Identify symptoms of iron deficiency Discussion on recent blood results from the last 8 weeks and how those apply to the symptom experience Identify the cause of the iron deficiency and suggest ways to limit the cause from reoccurring Explain the mechanism of iron deficiency and…

How Much Iron Do I Get?

  Your body normally has big reserve stores of iron (3000 – 4000mg in total). If #irondeficiency you are probably functioning on 30-50% of your iron stores, so you will be down by about 1000mg – 2000mg. To put this in perspective, your body has several years of iron in reserve you only need 1-2mg…

Pregnancy Related Iron Deficiency

Pregnancy related blood loss Women at higher risk of developing iron deficiency through #pregnancy and #labour are: #miscarriage followed by quick subsequent pregnancy #antepartum or #postpartum #haemorrhage 2 pregnancies within 3 years 3 pregnancies within 5 years The #brainfog, #hairloss and #lowmood can all be signs of iron deficiency.  

Reactions to Intravenous Iron are rare. An iron infusion is as safe as any other infusion

True anaphylaxis used to happen with the older iron dextrans from the 1960’s/1970’s. These products are no longer used. However, there is a huge hangover and fear confusing everyone (doctors and patients). With new preparations reactions are rare, but as with any treatment there are: Anxiety Patients with iron deficiency are anxious. This is part…