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William Aird: The Satisfaction of Recognising the Symptom Patterns in Iron Deficiency
William Aird/X
Apr 17, 2026, 16:00

William Aird: The Satisfaction of Recognising the Symptom Patterns in Iron Deficiency

William Aird, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Confession of a Hematologist.

I have a confession.

I really enjoy seeing patients with iron deficiency. Not because it’s simple, although it often is. But because the history is so rich.

This is a condition patients feel. They describe symptoms that are subtle, sometimes unusual, and easy to miss.

But when you ask the right questions, something interesting happens.

They pause and say,

‘Wait… how did you know that?’

  • Fatigue.
  • Restless legs.
  • Ice craving.
  • Hair loss.

These are not random symptoms. They form a pattern.

And once you recognize that pattern, iron deficiency becomes one of the most satisfying diagnoses in medicine.

Because you can name what the patient is experiencing. You can treat it. And patients feel better.

But that only happens if the diagnosis comes to mind. The challenge is not treating iron deficiency.

It’s recognizing it.”

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