Anemia: Medical Case Study of Ms A

Anemia is a medical condition defined as having low amounts of red blood cells, thus transporting low levels of oxygen in the blood. Common symptoms include fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath. Causes for anemia vary, depending on the severity and duration of illness. Regular anemia can result with low levels of iron in the blood. (Mayo Clinic, 2014)

Anemia is a condition where the number and quality of erythrocytes in the blood decreases. There are several factors that may prompt anemia: blood loss, complications in erythrocyte production, increased erythrocyte destruction, or a combination of these. There are different types of anemia, and they are distinguished by size, shape, or the erythrocyte’s substance.

Anemia is a disorder of the blood. It occurs when your body does not produce enough erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBCs). Without the erythrocytes oxygen can not be adequately delivered to the tissues and organs throughout the body. This will cause you to become weak and tired. A person may also experience headaches, skin pallor, and faintness. Your body may attempt to compensate for these symptoms by speeding up the heart rate and respiratory rate. This is the body’s attempt to return oxygen levels to normal(Thibodeau and Patton, 2005).

Iron Deficiency Anemia affects millions of individuals across the world. This disease strikes many more women than men and has harmful effects on all who suffer from this deficiency that causes oxygen-carrying capacity to decrease. The causes can vary amongst different groups, but the aggravating symptoms remain constant. Much of the research on Iron Deficiency Anemia concentrates on not only the treatment of this disease, but also the prevention of it. To attain a better understanding of how to treat this problem, one must clearly know what Iron Deficiency Anemia means, what causes this disease, the effects of it, and finally how to cure it.

An increased MVC is a sign of a macrocytic anemia and is typically caused by folate and B12 deficiency, liver disease, hemolytic anemias, hypothyroidism, and alcoholism (Medscape, 2015). The risk factors for this type of anemia are the lack of meat and dairy products in one?s diet, intestinal disease, lack of intrinsic factor (IF), medications such as antacids or particular diabetes type II meds, and having an endocrine-related autoimmune disorder (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Her physical exam is negative, her asthma is well controlled, and she had no other complaints. Therefore, according to her physical exam, she appears to be a healthy young female. However, her lab values of Hemoglobin 10, Hematocrit 30.1, and an increased MCV are indicative of B-12 deficiency anemia. According to Buttaro, Trybulski, Polgar Bailey, & Sandberg-Cook (2013), mild cases of this type of anemia do not produce many symptoms, therefore, the complete blood count (CBC) usually verifies the diagnosis. The fact that she is vegetarian puts her at an increased risk for B12 deficiency, due to the lack of meat in her diet. Foods that contain B12 are only attained from animals such as meat, dairy, and fish. A deficiency from B12 from deficiency or malabsorption may not manifest for many years (Hunt, Harrington, & Robinson, 2014). The patient states that she does not drink

Ms. A is 26-year-old female with a history of menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea since she was 14-16 years old. In addition, she has taken aspirin during menstruation and for preventing and alleviating joint pain during golf season. Her signs and symptoms include shortness of breath, lethargy, light headache, tachycardia, tachypnea, and hypotension. Her laboratory values show low Hemoglobin (HB), Hematocrit (HCT) and Erythrocyte (RBC) but normal in Reticulocyte (REIC) count. According to Chen, Zieve, & Ogilvie (2014, p. 1), the normal value of HB is 12.1 to 15.1g/dl, HCT is 36.1% to 44.3%, RBC count is 4.2 to 5.2 x10/mm and RETIC count is 0.5% to 1.5% in female. The low Hemoglobin and Hematocrit can direct that Ms. A has anemia. The RBC smear can determine her classification of anemia. Her RBC smear showed microcytic and hypochromic cells. The evidence can indicate that Ms. A has Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA).

Anemias: Laboratory Findings for Client who has Aplastic Anemia (System Disorder, RM AMS RN 9.0 Chp 41)

"The average age of diagnosis is age 60"[4]. In medicinal and family history doctor sometimes asks symptoms or sign for instance, if the patients have any stomach or intestinal surgeries, and have a digestive disorder, about medicine taking, or have family history of anemia or pernicious anemia. Moreover ,In bodily test doctor looks in pale or yellowish skin, heartbeats. Furthermore, there are a lot of tests and procedures aid to diagnose pernicious anemia. The first a test is complete blood counts used to diagnose kinds of anemia due to measure parts of blood, hemoglobin ,and red blood cells then if the result confirms that have anemia, so there are other blood tests to define which kind of anemia have. For example, A reticulocyte which is a test that counts red blood cells, and appears if the bone marrow is creating red blood cells correctly, but in pernicious anemia, the result is low then Serum folate and iron binding capacity exams are used to defined if patients have pernicious anemia or not. In addition, doctors advice another red blood tests to know vitamin B12 because if vitamin B12 is low, consider a sign of pernicious

also had a complete blood count, a blood test, as a baseline to assess his overall health. The complete blood count is “To evaluate numerous conditions involving red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. This test is also used to indicate inflammation, infection, and response to chemotherapy (Bladh et al., 2013).” T.A.’s abnormal blood results were as follows: RBC 3.3 10^6 cells/microL (low), hemoglobin 11.0 g/dL (low), hematocrit 33.2% (low), and mean corpuscular volume 99.7 fL (high). The normal range for RBC should be 3.8-5.81 10^6 cells/microL. Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels should be 12.6-17.4 g/dL and 36-52%. Normal mean corpuscular volume should be 79-103 fL. T.A.’s abnormal lab values indicate anemia. A decrease in red blood cell is related to nutrient deficiency such as a deficiency in iron or vitamins that are needed for red blood cell production and maturation. The decrease production or maturation of red blood cells lead to anemia in the patient. A low hemoglobin is associated with an overall decrease of red blood cell count and anemia caused by nutritional deficit of iron, vitamins, and folate. It can also be low due to a decrease level of erythropoietin caused by the AKI. Like hemoglobin, a low hematocrit is associated with an overall decrease of red blood cell count due to anemia, nutrition deficiency, and AKI. T.A.’s increased mean corpuscular volume is related to anemia caused by vitamin B12 or folate deficiency (Bladh et al.,

Hemochromic Microcytic Anemia is a type of anemia distinguished by having small red blood cells called microcytes. Additionally these red blood cells are hypochromic, which means paler than usual. Therefore Microcytic hypochromic anemia refers to the condition where the patient's red blood cells are smaller (microcytic) and pale ( hypochromic) than in a normal healthy adult (Hampel, Eliana, & Edward, 2016). This type of anemia is associated with iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is the most common Micronutrient Deficiency(MND) worldwide and leads to hypochromic microcytic anemia, as well as impaired immune and endocrine function (Bailey, West, & Black 2015). Iron deficiency accounts for anemia in 5% of american woman and 2% american men (Wimbley,& Graham, 2011). Depending of the severity and cause of the anemia, treatment will vary. Signs and symptoms of this disease include fatigue, loss of stamina, weakness, dizziness, pallor, and shortness of breath. A case study of this disease will be presented to outline risk factors, clinical manifestations, and goals of treatment using evidence based interventions and practice.

You can ask your doctor to write a physician report that includes a definitive diagnosis of hemolytic anemia. A simple statement isn’t enough to be persuasive. This report must state that you’ve had the appropriate lab tests, and those tests provide absolute proof that you have this type of hematological disorder. If the doctor isn’t able to use a lab test, another type of acceptable proof must back up the diagnosis stated in the report.

Anemia is the medical condition that results from blood not carrying enough oxygen to the body through the blood. It is sometimes caused by a loss in the percentage of red blood cells in the blood. While nearly one in five seniors have anemia, the condition is the result of other medical issues and not age. The most common reason for anemia in seniors is a lack of Vitamin B12. Other reasons include a folate deficiency or gastrointestinal bleeding.

The symptoms: Iron deficiency anemia causes extreme fatigue, weakness, and pale skin. You may also notice headaches, difficulty concentrating, cold hands and feet, and hair loss. Any type of exertion may leave you short of breath.

In most cases there is no identifiable underlying cause; however, it may be secondary to a uterine pathology. Regardless of the etiology, one of the major consequences of ongoing menorrhagia is iron deficiency anemia. While iron deficiency anemia rarely causes severe consequences in developed countries, it can be a significant burden on quality of life due to fatigue (WHO, 2011). Very rarely, hypoxemia and coronary insufficiency can develop due to lack of oxygen delivery to tissue. The most common symptoms are fatigue, muscle cramping, poor concentration, cold intolerance and increased risk of infection (Tilyard, 2013). There are few specific signs of anemia, but pallor of the skin and conjunctiva, nail changes and angular stomatitis are commonly associated with chronic iron deficiency (Tilyard,

Yes, her diet could have caused her to be iron deficient, but there are numerous other possible causative agents. If her diet is to blame, then her diet would need to be adjusted – while respecting her religious beliefs. One could ask the patient if her diet could be altered to include the foods that she has omitted, as the Seventh-Day Adventist Church supports doing what’s best for one’s health, including eating red meats and such medical interventions as blood transfusions (James, 2005).