Lisa Healy was 7 years old when the symptoms began.
Fatigue that would not go away, brain fog, sadness that no one could fully explain. Over time, several therapists agreed on the same thing: depression. She exercised, ate well, took supplements, and yet blood tests never showed anything unusual. Her hemoglobin came back normal, again and again, for years.
The answer appeared by accident. On a trip to Bali, Lisa noticed that her mother had exactly the same symptoms as she did. That coincidence led them to investigate beyond routine tests, until a test in Canada revealed what standard analyses had never detected: latent anemia, an iron deficiency that is not always noticeable in the blood but can mimic the symptoms of depression almost perfectly.
An endocrinologist ultimately confirmed the diagnosis. As Dr. Bhanot explained to Newsweek, this condition deceives even specialists because the basic markers appear perfectly normal, while the body’s iron stores are depleted internally.
