Iron poor blood, known as Anemia
The persons who have Iron Poor Blood or Anemia, their blood cannot carry sufficient oxygen to the body system. Iron deficiency is known to be the most common problem of being anemic.
What is the use of iron in our body?
Iron is such a mineral that is needed for many functions of our body. The first of them is the role of haemoglobin, which is a protein that carries oxygen from our lungs and distributes the protein throughout our body. Our muscles store and use the oxygen from this system. Iron is also the part of many enzymes and proteins.
Our body needs sufficient supply of iron. If any one does not have the right amount of iron, the person will be anaemic or the victim of Anaemia.
Why Anaemia?
If you have blood loss, inability to absorb iron from your foods, poor diet etc. we will be the victim of Anaemia. It can be also due to the red blood cells’ destruction in a significant way. Or it may also be inability of our body system to produce required amount of red blood cells.
Who are the most vulnerable ones?
Women who are passing through heavy periods or are pregnant and the young children are the most vulnerable ones. In case anyone has met with some serious accident and could not be treated in time, are also supposed to be anaemic.
What happens, if iron is too much in our body?
Too much iron will also be a bad thing for your body. Many take too much iron supplements; they are actually iron- poisoning their bodies. Hemochromatosis disease is such a problem which a few people inherit. People with such problem build too much of iron in their body. Having extra iron in the body is one of the reasons of Thalassemia, for which a special treatment is done for removing extra iron from the body.
In normal condition, our body takes the help of iron for making haemoglobin, which is an iron-rich protein, responsible for giving red colour to our blood. Haemoglobin is the oxygen carrier from our lung to the entire body.
Reasons of being anaemic
1. Heavy periods
2. Colon cancer or colon polyps
3. Pregnancy
4. Ulcers
5. Inherited disorders
6. A diet that is without enough iron or enough folic acid
What is folic acid?
Folic acid means Pteroylglutamic acid / folate / folacin / Vitamin B9.
In simple meaning, folic acid is vitamin B, which is very essential for building new cells in our body system. Every human being needs this vital chemical in the body. The pregnant women need this item very essentially. Any woman, before conceiving and during gestation, needs sufficient amount of Folic acid for preventing major birth defects, which is very much connected with the baby’s spine & brain.
The foods rich in contain folic acids
· Leafy green vegetables
· Fruits
· Dried beans, nuts and peas
· A dietary supplement can also be helpful, if you are not getting enough folic acid from the foods you take. Your sources can also be from cereals, enriched breads and other grain products
· Vitamin B
What is vitamin B?
• B1 (thiamine)
• B2 (riboflavin)
· Folic acid
• B3 (niacin)
• B5 (pantothenic acid)
• B12
• B6
• B7 (biotin)
All these vitamins are very helpful in getting or making energy from the food you normally take. They are also helpful in forming the red blood cells. Dairy products, eggs, meat, poultry and fish are also the good sources of vitamin B.
What happens if you are not getting sufficient supply of Vitamin B?
You will invite many diseases, if you are not getting sufficient supply of Vitamin B. Anaemia is one of the causes of vitamin B6 or B12 deficiencies.
Another problem is sickle cell anaemia, which is thickly connected with vitamin B deficiency.
What is sickle cell anaemia?
Sickle cell anaemia is also known as haemoglobin disorder. In this condition, your body produces red blood cells which are abnormally shaped. The shapes look like a sickle or a crescent. These cells do not last longer time as the round red blood cells. Because of these haemoglobin disorder, one gets problem of Sickle cell anaemia. Further to this, the sickle cells get stuck in the blood vessels that block the flow of blood. The result is organ damage and pain.
What is the cause of sickle cell anaemia?
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetically inherited problem. Those who are affected, inherit a pair of sickle cell genes, one each from each parent. Those who get only a single sickle cell gene from either of the parent, it is known as sickle cell trait. 12 per cent of the Americans have sickle cell trait.
What is the symptom of sickle cell anaemia?
Pain & different problems are noticed in the cases of sickle cell anaemia. The problems and pain may make you tired and weak. Many patients with this problem experience the coldness in the limbs (both upper and lower), headache shortness of breath and dizziness.
Diagnosis of sickle cell anemia
A blood test is the only way of detecting the presence of anaemia or trait. Many concerned parents test their new born babies for this type of disorder as part of their new born screening program.
Why diagnosis is very important?
As on date, the sickle cell anemia has no proper cure. Only complications and symptoms can be lessened by the available treatments. Different researches are going on to find the solution through new medicines, gene therapy and cell transplants from bone marrow or blood.
7. 7. Another reason of anaemia is thalassemia
Thalassemia is also known as the cause behind anaemia. The other names of the problem are Mediterranean anaemia, Cooley's anaemia,
Thalassemia is a known blood disorder by heritance. This afflicted with even a single such thalassemia cell, will produce lesser haemoglobin and red blood cells. Haemoglobin is a protein, important for carrying oxygen from lungs to the entire body system. Since Thalassemia patients cannot produce required amount of haemoglobin, the body suffers from anaemia
Who are found to be the victims of these problems?
Italian, Southern Asian, Greek, Middle Eastern and African descents are the most affected with this problem.
Types of Thalassemia
Thalassemia can be severe or mild. Those who have mild Thalassemia have no symptoms. In the USA, the most common type of this problem is called as Cooley’s anaemia. The problem starts among some babies who are yet to reach their 2nd year of life. That means the problem may start from the very early or during their post natal stage. In this condition, the growth is very slow, anaemia may be severe and puberty may be delayed. The other problems attached with this Thalassemia are problems with bones, heart, liver and spleen.
How Thalassemia is detected?
Blood tests are done for confirming Thalassemia.
Treatment of Thalassemia
Blood transfusions are the commonly known treatment for Thalassemia. Another treatment is removing excess iron from the body. People with mild symptoms or no symptoms don’t require any treatment. Some patients need bone marrow transplantation.
8. 8. Aplastic Anaemia another cause of anaemia
Aplastic Anaemia, although rare but it is a serious type of blood disorder. The patients with this problem will face the problem of making required amount of fresh blood cells by their bone marrows.
Reasons behind the aplastic anaemia
i) If one is exposed to toxic substances like benzenes, arsenic, pesticides etc.
ii) If the person is diagnosed with cancer, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the best alternative
iii) Some medicines are also helpful in curing the problem
iv) HIV, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis etc.
v) A few of the inherited conditions
vi) Autoimmune disorder
vii) Some are the victims of unknown problems
viii) Medical and family history will be the basis of diagnosis. A physician exam will be the next to determine the case. Some tests are needed for correctly diagnosing the problem.
Treatments for Aplastic Anaemia
After diagnosing the case, your doctor will plan the treatment, depending upon the severity and the cause of the problem. Medicines, bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants and blood transfusions are the treatments you can expect as on date.
9. 9. G6PD deficiency is another cause of anaemia
The condition is mainly either acquired or inherited. The full form of G6PD is Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase. In most of the cases it is a genetic disorder and commonly found in males. 10 persons out of every 100 African-Americans have this problem
What are the implications?
Persons with G6PD problem will have afflicted red blood cell problems, which are responsible for carrying oxygen from lungs to the entire body. This is one of the commonly known medical problems. This problem can cause another problem that is haemolytic anaemia. This problem is a very serious type, because in this condition. Our body’s red blood cells are destroyed faster than they can be replaced by our body.
Symptoms of G6PD anaemia
In normal conditions, G6PD does not symptomize, but once they are exposed to certain medicines, food or chemicals, stress, viral infections or certain type of bacteria can indicate about the problems as the indications.
Types of symptoms
•Dark urine
•Fatigue
•Paleness
•Jaundice
•Shortness of breath
•Rapid heart rate
•Enlarged spleen
Diagnosis of G6PD anaemia
Blood tests are always the best way of knowing about the problem.
Treatments of G6PD anaemia
Treatments include avoiding those things that cause the problem with red blood cells, medicines to treat infection and sometimes transfusions.
Anemia is a metabolic disorder, for which a patient feels irritable, dizzy, cold and tired. Some patients feel short of breath and some patients suffer from headache. A physical exam and blood tests are the systems of diagnosing type of anaemia you have and the treatment will be in accordance to that.
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