Anemia causes and treatment

Anemia is the condition when the number of red blood cells in blood is less. The person suffering from anemia is known as anemic. For instance, doctors describe someone as anemic when their blood count is low. Blood is comprised of a liquid part and a cellular part. The cellular part contains different cell types called red blood cells, white blood cell and platelets. One of the most important blood cell is red blood cell. The function of red blood cell is to deliver oxygen from lungs to different parts of the body. Red blood cell involves the series of complex and specific steps. They are made in the bone marrow and when the maturation is completed, blood cells are released into blood streams. Even though blood cell are produced in bone marrow many other factors are involve in its production for example iron; a very important component of hemoglobin molecule, a molecule secreted by the kidneys, promotes the formation of blood cells in the bone marrow. Healthy red blood cell lives between 90 and 120 days. The part of your body removes the dead and decayed blood cells. Hormone called erythropoietin signal the body to produce more blood cells. The body needs enough of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to produce blood cells, iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid are some of the important components that are needed. The body may not have enough of nutrients because of • Change in lining of the stomach and intestines affects how well nutrients are absorbedrn• Poor dietrn• Slow blood loss because of heavy menstrual period and stomach ulcerrn• Surgery that removes part of the stomach or intestines The major and most common causes of anemia are; • Certain medicinesrn• Destruction of red blood cells earlier than normalrn• Long-term disease like chronic kidney disease, cancer, ulcerative colitis or rheumatoid arthritisrn• Inherited forms of anemia such as thalassemia or sickle anemiarn• Pregnancyrn• Problem with bone marrow At an initial stage, when anemia is minor you may not discover any kind of symptoms but gradually if the problem is further developed you may find certain signs like; • Feeling grumpyrn• Feeling weak or tieredrn• Headache • Problem concentrating or thinkingrn• Blue color to the whites of eyern• Brittle nailrn• Headache when you standrn• Pale skin colorrn• Shortness of breathrn• Sore tongue Doctor may perform physical examination on the patient and is likely to find heart murmur, low blood pressure especially when you stand up, pale skin, rapid heart rate. Blood test helps to discover some common cause of anemia includes blood levels of iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, other vitamin and minerals, red blood cells or hemoglobin. Treatment depends on the cause of anemia. Few of the common treatment involve; • Blood transfusionrn• Medicine that suppress the immune system such as corticosteroidsrn• Medicine that helps your bone marrow makes more blood cells like erythropoietin • Supplements of vitamin B12, iron, folic acid, and other vitamins and minerals Severe anemia cause low oxygen level in various parts of the body such as heart and can cause heart attack.