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Essay Iron Deficiency Anemia

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Iron Deficiency Anemia

I. Introduction

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.

II. What Is Iron …show more content…

As the concentration of hemoglobin in the Red Blood Cells falls below normal, the total Red Blood Cell count consequently decreases. Therefore, oxygen cannot be adequately carried. (http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/pted/htm/iron.htm).

Normal Values of the hemogram (Figure 1)

Test Women Men Ht (%) 36-48 40-52 Hg (g/dl) 12-16 13, 5-17, 7 Hem 4, 0-5, 4 4, 5-6, 0 VCM 80-100 80-100

III.Causes of Iron Deficiency Anemia

The most prominent cause of Iron Deficiency Anemia is bleeding. Blood loss from the Gastrointestinal Tract is a significant cause of anemia for both men and women. When blood is present in excrement, a gastrointestinal problem exists. Many times, people are unaware of these problems with their waste products. When they begin to feel the symptoms of anemia and undergo tests that determine that they are anemic, it begins the process of discovering more health problems. Anemia can serve as the precursor of certain diseases. There are many instances when it is merely a sign of severe disease such as a peptic ulcer disease, gastritis, hemorrhoids, angiodysplasis of the colon, and colonic adenocarcinoma (http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/sep_96/browne.htm).

Females experience blood loss monthly during their menstrual cycle. This fact accounts for why women have a much higher rate of anemia than men. All women have a constant form of blood

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