Anemia

Cristal Martinez The History of Anemia

Anemia derives from the Greek word Avaquia Anhaima meaning “without blood” in which is a deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglin to transfer oxygen to the tissues causing hypoxia. Anemia is the most common disorder of the blood. This disease is classified in a variety of ways based on the RBC’S but there are two major approaches of classifying anemia’s one is the kinetic which involves evaluating, production, destruction, and loss. Another is the morphologic approach which groups anemia by the size of the red blood cells. One of the most common types of anemia’s is iron deficiency this is caused by insufficient dietary intake or the lack of iron to replace losses from menstruation and other diseases. Iron is an essential part of hemoglin and low iron levels result in decreased incorporation of hemoglin into red blood cells.

The Signs and Symptoms of Anemia

One of the first signs of anemia might be mild skin paleness, decreased pinkness of the lips and nail beds. Other signs of anemia may include irritability, fatigue, dizziness, rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure. The symptoms of anemia are chest pain, abdominal pain, weight loss, weakness, and dizziness especially upon standing. In infants and preschool children iron deficiency anemia can result in developmental delays and behavioral disturbances like problems with social interaction and difficulty paying attention to tasks.

Treatment for Anemia

The treatment to treated anemia depends on the severity and on its cause. The doctors may sometimes prescribe medicine as drops for infants and tablets for older children to treat iron deficiency anemia. They also recommend certain iron rich foods. For more severe or chronic forms of anemia include transfusions of normal red blood cells taken from a donor, removal of the spleen or treatment with medications to prevent blood cells from being removed from circulation or destroyed too rapidly, and finally medications to fight infection or stimulate the bone marrow to make more blood cells. Anemia is also associated with chemotherapy or anemia associated with renal disease the doctors prescribe Recombinant Erythropoietin, Epoetin Alfa to stimulate red cell production.

Statistics: · Iron deficiency anemia is most common in children and is most commonly seen in those younger than 2 years old. · In the United States 20% of all women of childbearing age have iron deficiency anemia compared with only 2% of adult men. · Irons, found in animal meats are more easily absorbed by the body than iron found in non-meated sources.