Ask About Iron

For patients

Transfusion Center Resources for Healthcare Professionals

Screen. Diagnose. Treat. Making a difference for at-risk patients.

AskAboutIron is an educational program that can provide you with free resources to help educate your at risk patients about iron overload. Get the full educational kit.

Educational Materials

Download printable materials you can use to help educate at-risk patients.

View available downloads

EducationalVideos

Download or view educational videos about the risks of transfusional iron overload.

View available videos

Get the full Kit

Have the full educational kit delivered to your transfusion center or practice. It's easy to order and FREE.

Get It Now

Educating Patients About Transfusional Iron Overload

You see patients benefit from blood transfusions every day. And you're dedicated to providing them as safely as possible — reducing risks such as viral infection, anaphylactic reactions, and volume overload.

But do your patients know about the risk of iron overload due to blood transfusions? A total lifetime exposure of as few as 20 units of red blood cell transfusions may be enough to cause this dangerous condition.

Printable Materials

Below are some of the educational materials available for you. Download and print out these educational materials, or sign up to have these and other materials delivered to your transfusion center. (You will need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ to view the PDFs.)

Iron Overload Brochure

Download (PDF, 485K)
This brochure explains why the body cannot eliminate excess iron on its own — and the serious clinical consequences of iron overload.

Patient Iron Overload Brochure

Download (PDF, 780K)
In a patient friendly language, this brochure provides information on the etiology and pathophysiology of excess iron and on how to identify the risk of iron overload.

Back to top

Videos

Download or view these videos online, or sign up to have DVD versions delivered to your transfusion center.

Iron Overload Animation

View video (SWF, 1.8MB)
Download (MPEG, 7.3MB)
Animation explaining the etiology and pathophysiology of iron overload.

AskAboutIron.com Iron Overload Animation

View video (SWF, 25 KB)
Download (MPEG, 8.5MB)
Animation showing that as few as 10 transfusions may lead to too much iron in key organs.

MDS Patient Video

View video (SWF, 9.4MB)
Download (MPEG, 18.9MB)
Hosted by an oncologist, this video is a helpful tool to use when speaking to patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) about transfusional iron overload.

Back to top