30/01/2021
💞Anemia Definition: What Is Anemia?
Anemia is a condition that develops when your red blood cell count or hemoglobin is less than normal.
As the most common blood disorder, anemia is often associated with being tired and weak. The reason for this is that anemia occurs when your body doesn't have adequate healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body's tissues.
🙄Different Types of Anemia
In addition to iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type), there is aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia, pernicious anemia, and anemia of chronic disease. Treatment for anemia is dictated by the type as well as the cause of the anemia.
😊What Are the Causes of Anemia?
Each type of anemia is caused by something different, and each ranges from mild to severe. Red blood cells play a central role in the condition.
While white blood cells fight infection and platelets help your blood clot, red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body.
Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that's found in red blood cells. Hemoglobin is what makes it possible for red blood cells to take oxygen from your lungs and carry it to places throughout your body. Hemoglobin also takes carbon dioxide from different areas of your body and brings it to your lungs so your lungs can get rid of it when you exhale.
Your bone marrow, which is in your large bones, produces red blood cells. However, vitamin B12, folate and other nutrients that we get from food are needed to produce hemoglobin and red blood cells.
🤔The Most Common Types of Anemia
😴Aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia is a blood disorder in which the body's bone marrow — the soft tissue in the center of bones — doesn't make enough healthy blood cells. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as bone marrow failure.
😲Acquired aplastic anemia, which is more common than the inherited form, may result from:
🙄Toxins, including benzene (a chemical sometimes used in manufacturing and chemical synthesis), pesticides, and arsenic
🗯Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer treatment
Various infectious diseases, including hepatitis, HIV, and Epstein-Barr virus (a type of herpes virus), lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or other autoimmune disorders (those in which the immune system attacks healthy cells)
Pregnancy
Certain drugs, including some antibiotics, immunosuppressants, and some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Cancer that has spread to the bone
Causes of inherited aplastic anemia, which is rare and develops from genes that are passed down from parent to child, include:
Fanconi anemia
Diamond–Blackfan anemia
Shwachman–Diamond syndrome
Dyskeratosis congenita
Fatigue is the most common symptom of anemia. Other symptoms of aplastic anemia may include:
Bleeding
Infection
Nausea
Skin rashes
These symptoms may be severe from the start, or gradually worsen over time.
Other symptoms include:
Weakness
Shortness of breath and chest pain
Dizziness, especially after standing up from a sitting or lying position
Headaches
Pale skin
Bruising or bleeding easily
Uncontrollable bleeding
Nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bloody stool, or heavy menstrual bleeding
Cold feeling in your hands and feet
Fever due to infection
Recurring infections and/or flu-like symptoms
The appearance of small red dots on the skin that indicates bleeding under the skin
Rapid heart rate
Over time, severe heart issues may develop, such as arrhythmia (irregular heart beat), angina, enlarged heart, and heart failure.
🔬While blood tests can detect low blood cell counts and the possibility of aplastic anemia, they cannot diagnose the disorder.
🙄Sickle Cell Anemia
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder characterized by both a deficiency of healthy red blood cells and painful episodes called sickle cell crises.The disorder is caused by a mutation in the gene that tells the body to make hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that binds to oxygen in the lungs and carries it to tissues throughout the body.
As a result of the mutation, the body produces a defective form of hemoglobin called hemoglobin S, which causes red blood cells to sickle, or develop a crescent shape.
Vitamin-deficiency anemia may occur when vitamin B12 and folate are deficient. These two vitamins are needed to make red blood cells. Conditions leading to anemia caused by vitamin deficiency include:
💁Megaloblastic anemia: Vitamin B12 or folate or both are deficient
Pernicious anemia: Poor vitamin B12 absorption
Dietary deficiency: Eating little or no meat may cause a lack of vitamin B12, while overcooking or eating too few vegetables may cause a folate deficiency.
Other causes of vitamin deficiency: pregnancy, certain medications, alcohol abuse, intestinal diseases such as tropical sprue and celiac disease
During early pregnancy, sufficient folic acid can help prevent the fetus from developing neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
Bone marrow and stem cell problems may prevent the body from producing enough red blood cells. Some of the stem cells found in bone marrow develop into red blood cells. If stem cells are too few, defective, or replaced by other cells such as metastatic cancer cells, anemia may result. Anemia resulting from bone marrow or stem cell problems include:
💁Aplastic anemia occurs when there's a marked reduction in the number of stem cells or absence of these cells. Aplastic anemia can be inherited, can occur without apparent cause, or can occur when the bone marrow is injured by medications, radiation, chemotherapy, or infection.
Thalassemia occurs when the red cells can't mature and grow properly. Thalassemia is an inherited condition that typically affects people of Mediterranean, African, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian descent. This condition can range in severity from mild to life-threatening; the most severe form is called Cooley's anemia.
💁Lead exposure is toxic to the bone marrow, leading to fewer red blood cells. Lead poisoning occurs in adults from work-related exposure and in children who eat paint chips, for example. Improperly glazed pottery can also taint food and liquids with lead.
🙏🌺Medical World Dr Rana Sanjay 🌺🙏
