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
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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
According to the information of Nikoleta’s case, Cooley’s anemia has features that the beta proteins of hemoglobin do not function properly. This is caused my mutations in the beta chain of the hemoglobin molecule. The symptoms of Cooley’s anemia matches the symptoms of Nikoleta. The main reason why giving a high iron formula did the opposite is that the constant buildup of iron causes the symptoms to grow worse, and can even result in heart failure in the future. Cooley’s anemia decrease the red blood cell’s ability to deliver oxygen to certain tissues. The number of red blood cells are high, however, the number of hemoglobin is very
Hemoglobin is a main part of red blood cells and binds oxygen. If you have too few or abnormal red blood cells, or your hemoglobin is abnormal or low, the cells in your body will not get enough oxygen. Symptoms of anemia -- like fatigue -- occur because organs aren't getting what they need to function properly, according to the article, "Anemia Causes, Types, Symptoms, Diet, and Treatment." During the civil war more than 150 prisons were established where around 400,000 men had been imprisoned.
In the beginning of every cross country season, my coach stressed the importance that all the female runners must take one iron pill a day. I never gave in to this because he never gave us an explanation, so I saw this as merely a mental booster rather than actual improvement present in my body. After doing some research, I found out that iron is an essential nutrient used by the human body for to transport oxygen and produce energy. Iron is present in every single cell of the body and carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissue in the form of hemoglobin, which is the oxygen-transport protein in red blood cells. Lack of iron results in both fatigue and weakness, which is definitely harmful to a cross country runner. Iron deficiency affects women about 8-10 times more than men, which is why it is crucial for women runners to watch their iron levels (Sinclair, Hinton). If iron deficiency worsens, it can lead to anemia. Anemia is when you do not have enough red blood cells, and as a result, less hemoglobin. If a cross country runner has anemia, it can affect their whole season because they are exerting energy without the sufficient amount of oxygen needed to complete each run or workout.
Iron deficiency anemia is quite common in children, as iron is needed to support growth. A lack of iron in the diet can cause delays in brain development, which may be irreversible. Common symptoms of iron deficiency anemia include irritability, palor, weakness, and cold hands and feet. Prevention of anemia is crucial for expectant mothers, as anemic women are at a higher risk for delivery complications such as hemorrhaging and having infants of low-birth weight. (Frantz, C. 2010).
I was surgery last month. After surgery, my doctor told me I had an amount of blood. So, I felt very tired. I become more interested in anemia. Accordingly, I had picked iron deficiency anemia. According to the Health line, anemia occurs when I have a level of red blood cells (RBCs) in my blood that is lower than normal. They explained iron deficiency anemia that is the most common type of anemia, and it occurs when my body do not have enough of the mineral iron. My body needs iron to make a protein called hemoglobin. This protein is responsible for carrying oxygen to my body’s tissues, which is essential form my tissues and muscles to function effectively. When there is not enough iron in my blood stream, the rest of my body cannot get the
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,
An “ Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia, which develops due to a lack of iron in the body. The main reasons of having less iron in the body are excessive blood loss, inadequate absorption of iron, pregnancy and childbirth, bypass surgeries and others”(American Society of Hematology, 2015).
Iron is part of hemoglobin, the portion of red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body cells. When there is a lack of iron called an iron deficiency, even if it is small it can affect your physical performance immensely. Females are more prone to iron deficiency, as iron is lost through menstruation. Foods high in iron include, red meat, pork, poultry, seafood, beans, dark green leafy vegetables, dried fruit and iron-fortified cereals.
Anemia is a blood condition with decreasing number of red blood cells (RBC) or less than normal levels of hemoglobin (an essential protein that carries oxygen to your tissues and organs) in the blood. Anemia usually occurs when individual does not have enough red blood cells the cells that transport hemoglobin (Hb) throughout your body. [4]
This will make you feel tired, breathless, and make you loose color. If a person does not get enough iron then they can't make enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein that is the chief means of oxygen transport. If the red blood cells does not get oxygen it will change shape. If you have the sickle cell disease your cells split at high altitudes and they get stuck is small blood vessels. If you have too many red blood cells it reduces fatigue by increasing the supply of oxygen to the exercising muscles. These are all malfunctions that can happen to the red blood
Anemia is a condition in which one lacks an adequate amount of healthy red blood cells (RBC) needed to transport the appropriate amount of oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body.
When it comes to nutrition and diseases there are multiple factors that correlate to a specific long-term illness. For my research paper, I decided to look into Chronic Anemia because it is something that affects many individuals regardless of age. This is an issue that is very prominent in many communities. Chronic Anemia is sought to occur after a person is diagnosed with Iron Deficiency Anemia that is the primary cause. Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDF) is formed throughout time due to the lack of iron and characterized by red cell shrinkage and color loss (Seizer, pg.320). Afterwards Chronic Anemia is developed meaning that the disease, circulating iron levels are low, RE stores are high, and intestinal iron absorption is decreased (20, 21)
I have chosen to do Anaemia as I didn’t know what Anaemia was and would like to learn more about this disorder and how to keep your iron level high. I would also enjoy finding interesting recipes and the strict diet you are to sick to while dealing with Anaemia. Anaemia is a deficiency in the number or quality of red blood cells, this means that either the level of red blood cells or the level of haemoglobin is lower than normal. When a person is anaemic, their heart has to work harder to pump the quantity of blood needed to get adequate oxygen around their body. Anaemia isn’t a disease, but a result of a malfunction in the body, anaemia is more common in women,. One in five menstruating women and half of all the pregnant women have anaemia.
But, there are some that we could try to stay away from like iron deficiency anemia and vitamin deficiency anemia. These two types can be avoided by taking vitamins and nutrients that contain iron, folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin C. If you may have concerns about the vitamins and nutrients you are receiving from your foods, ask your doctor about a multivitamin that can help out with decreasing your chances at getting anemia. There are different treatments for the different types of anemia. With the form of Iron deficiency anemia (mild case), the treatment will be to just take more iron. If there is major bleeding, the source of the bleeding must be located and stopped from doing any further damage. This treatment will include surgery. The type of anemia called aplastic anemia is treated by doing blood transfusions to raise your blood cell levels. Each type of anemia is different, and not every single type of anemia can have a treatment. If the cause of anemia is another disease, the doctors will focus more on trying to treat the other disease which could possibly stop the anemia. Anemia isn’t something that is easy for others. It will affect their everyday life. A way that we can try to make these people feel better is by doing only what they can handle with them. It will take off a lot of stress on their side, and can boost their
Anemia is a major world health problem for children in the world especially in the counties that have a low income. Till now anemia disease attacked about 40% of children in African and Asia. Iron deficiency is the main cause that leads to anemia in children. Globally, 60% of children are affected from this disease, and it is defined as when the number of red blood cells or quantity of hemoglobin lower than the normal number by the reduction of oxygen in the blood cells. This paper will show the impact of severe anemia in childhood. It will discuss the causes of this problem and its effects. It will also show the limitation of some of previous solutions and a proposed one.