Information about Anemia

Blood is actually a liquid made up of several different cell types. One of the most important and most numerous cell types is the red blood cell. The purpose of the red blood cell is to deliver oxygen to the body. Anemia describes the condition in which the number of red blood cells in your blood is low. For this reason, doctors sometimes describe someone with anemia as having a low blood count. A person who has anemia is called anemic.

Symptoms of Anemia

The symptoms of anemia will vary according to the type of anemia, the underlying cause and your underlying health problems. Anemia may be associated with other medical conditions such as hemorrhage, ulcers, menstrual problems or cancer — and specific symptoms of those conditions may be noticed first.

The body also has a remarkable ability to compensate for early anemia. If your anemia is mild or developed over a long period of time, you may not notice any symptoms.

* Preventing anemia and having the correct number of red blood cells requires cooperation among the kidneys, the bone marrow, and nutrients within the body. If your kidneys or bones are not working, or your body is poorly nourished, then you might not be able to maintain a normal red blood cell count.

There are three main causes of anemia: blood loss, lower than normal levels of red blood cell (RBC) production, or higher than normal rates of RBC destruction. More than one of these factors can combine to cause anemia.

An inability to absorb folate from food also can lead to a deficiency. Most nutrients from food are absorbed in your small intestine. People with diseases of the small intestine, such as Crohn’s disease or celiac disease, or those who have had a large part of their small intestine surgically removed or bypassed may have difficulty absorbing folate or its synthetic form, folic acid. Alcohol decreases absorption of folate, so drinking alcohol to excess may lead to a deficiency. Certain prescription drugs, such as some anti-seizure medications, can interfere with absorption of this nutrient.

Pregnant women and women who are breast-feeding have an increased demand for folate, as do people undergoing hemodialysis for kidney disease. Failure to meet this increased demand can result in a deficiency.

One way your body gets needed iron is when blood cells die — the iron in them is recycled and used to produce new blood cells. So, if you lose blood, you lose iron. Women with heavy periods who lose a lot of blood each month during menstruation are at risk of iron deficiency anemia. Slow, chronic blood loss from a source within the body — such as an ulcer, a colon polyp or even colon cancer — also can lead to iron loss and iron deficiency anemia.

Causes of Anemia

1. Blood loss: excessive bleeding such as hemorrhages or abnormal menstrual bleeding

2. Chronic illness secondary to refractory anemia: inflammatory GI/GU diseases, malignancies (cancer), arthritis, kidney or liver failure, and acute and chronic infections

3. Cancer therapy: surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy

4. Infiltration (replacement) of bone marrow with cancer

5. Hemolysis: Breakdown or destruction of red blood cells

6. Decreased red cell production due to low levels of erythropoietin (a hormone produced by the kidney {90%} and liver {10%}) which promotes red blood cell production