All of the following statements concerning iron deficiency are true, EXCEPT:
Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of anemia in people with high physiological needs; infants, children premenopausal women. It progresses through three stages; storage iron depletion, iron deficient erythropoiesis, and iron deficiency anemia. Not until marrow iron stores are depleted do RBC indices change. Serum ferritin is a good measure of body iron stores in normal people, but a falsely high level may occur with infection, chronic disease or liver disease. The presence of bone marrow iron in an anemic patient rules out iron deficiency anemia except in the case of recent massive hemorrhage or parenteral iron administration. Ref: Adamson J.W. (2012). Chapter 103. Iron Deficiency and Other Hypoproliferative Anemias. In D.L. Longo, A.S. Fauci, D.L. Kasper, S.L. Hauser, J.L. Jameson, J. Loscalzo (Eds), Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e.
It is the most common cause of anemia in infants and premenopausal women
RBC indices do not change until storage iron is depleted
Serum ferritin is directly propoional to body iron stores in normal subjects
Normal serum ferritin rules out the diagnosis of iron deficiency