Anemia is a word recognised by many people but maybe not fully understood. If you are anaemic you either don’t have enough red blood cells or you have enough red blood cells but they can’t carry enough oxygen. You will often feel faint, short of breath and unusually tired and lethargic.
The main causes of anemia are loss of blood, not enough red cell production or faster destruction than manufacture of red blood cells.
Your red blood cells have a protein called hemoglobin inside which carries oxygen round the body. So they are vital to your everyday health.
There are different types of anemia depending on the cause. Probably the most common is iron deficiency Anemia caused by blood loss and which commonly affects women with heavy periods.
A second common type is pernicious anemia. This happens when your body can’t make enough red blood cells due to poor absorption of vitamin B12. It can be due to a lack of a vital protein called intrinsic factor without which the body cannot absorb B12. It also occurs in a poor diet, especially when combined with alcohol problems.
Anemia of any causes will give you symptoms such as excessive shortness of breath, lethargy, fatigue, very pale complexion, cold hands and feet and possibly chest pain. They are all fairly vague but a doctor should soon pick up and diagnose your problems.
It is diagnosed with a simple blood test, which will also help your doctor decide which type of anemia you have and the appropriate treatment.
For iron deficiency the treatment is to reduce the loss of blood, if possible and to increase your iron intake. This could be by taking iron tablets or by changing your diet. Iron rich foods include green leafy vegetables, red meat, eggs, nuts and beans.
Pernicious anemia is treated with monthly vitamin B12 injections. If poor diet or alcohol is also a problem then reducing the alcohol and eating healthier foods such as fortified breakfast cereals, meat, liver, eggs and cheese will help increase your B12 intake and improve the anemia.