'Healthy' 47-year-old was diagnosed with low iron and ignored it for six months. It almost killed him. Doctor explains: 'If a man is bleeding...'

Developing anaemia is truly a wakeup call that something is not right with your body. Taking to X, internal medicine expert Dr Priyam Bordoloi talked about the case of an otherwise healthy 47-year-old male who was diagnosed with severe anaemia. He had a normal diet and no abnormal bleeding. But his reports suggested he had iron deficiency, which was a huge red flag in a healthy male that age. Sharing his anecdote, Dr Bordoloi revealed patient was complaining of feel exhausted and went out of breathe while climbing the stairs.

“He visits a local clinic, gets routine blood work and his Hemoglobin is 7 g/dL (Normal for men is 13-17)...” wrote Bordoloi. He was diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia, given some iron tablets and sent home. Six months later, he reappeared, looking incredibly pale and having lost 10 kg.

“We re-check his blood. His Hemoglobin is now 5 g/dL. The iron pills did absolutely nothing. Here is the Golden Rule we learn on day one in the medicine wards: If an adult male (or post-menopausal female) is iron deficient, they are losing blood. Period…” he wrote. He went on to explain that if the bleeding is internal, it is dripping into the gut and a colonoscopy has to be done.


Colonoscopy results shocked the doctors - a large, ulcerated tumour was found in his ascending colon and he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Rather than causing a blockage in the digestive tract, these cancers often form open sores that continuously leak small amounts of blood. Tiny, invisible quantities of blood gradually pass into the stool day after day, making the bleeding almost impossible to notice because bright red blood is usually absent. Over time, this hidden blood loss steadily depletes the body's iron stores, eventually leading to iron deficiency anemia without obvious warning signs.

In adult men, iron deficiency anemia should never be dismissed as a minor nutritional issue. One of the most important possibilities that doctors investigate is gastrointestinal cancer, including cancers of the colon or stomach, until another cause has been clearly identified. Other significant causes include peptic ulcers that bleed persistently, resulting in chronic blood loss, and celiac disease, a condition in which damage to the small intestine prevents the body from absorbing enough iron from food, even when dietary intake is adequate.