Posts Tagged ‘Blood Cell’

Anemia – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Comments: 0January 12th, 2011 by admin



A successful treatment of anemia is to identify and treating the above cause: blood loss, a nutritional deficiency, cancer, bone marrow infiltration, chronic illness, inflammation, or decreased response to erythropoietin. Laboratory test results and a physical examination, a physician can determine the cause of you.

Anemia is a blood disorder that is created when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. These cells are the main transporters of oxygen to organs. If red blood cells are also deficient in hemoglobin, then your body is not getting enough iron.

Anemia is usually detected or at least confirmed by a complete blood cell (CBC) count. It is the common blood disorder. There are several kinds of anemia, produced by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a variety of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs. It is found in the person when the number of red blood cells in your blood is low. For this reason, doctors sometimes describe anemia as having a low blood count

Symptoms of anemia:

feeling of restless fastly and loss of energy. fatigue — occur because organs aren’t getting enough oxygen Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise Shortness of breath and headache in exercise also Difficulty in concentrating on something
Types & causes of Anemia

1) Macrocytic anemia: Macrocytic anemia can be further divided into “megaloblastic anemia” or “non-megaloblastic macrocytic anemia”. The cause of megaloblastic anemia is primarily a failure of DNA synthesis with preserved RNA synthesis, which result in restricted cell division of the progenitor cells.

2) Microcytic anemia: Microcytic anemia caused due to hemoglobin synthesis failure or insufficiency. Iron deficiency anemia is the common type of anemia so it has many causes. RBCs often appear hypochromic (paler than usual) and microcytic (smaller than usual) when viewed with a microscope

3) Normocytic anemia :Normocytic anaemia causes when the overall Hb levels are decreased, but the red blood cell size (MCV) remains normal.

Causes include:

Accurate blood loss Anemia of chronic disease Bone marrow failure Aplastic anemia

4) Heinz body anemia: Heinz bodies are an abnormality that forms on the cells in this condition. This form of anemia may be brought on by taking certain medications; it is also triggered in cats by eating onions or acetaminophen (Tylenol). It can be triggered in dogs by ingesting onions or zinc and in horses by ingesting dry Red Maple leaves.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in anemia

Iron Rich Foods For Pregnancy

Comments: 0August 1st, 2010 by admin



During the last trimester of pregnancy, you need to eat more foods high in iron than you normally would. This is because your body is busy making more red blood cells so as to supply enough for you and your baby. Each blood cell uses iron as a core. Iron can’t be manufactured by your body; it must be absorbed from the food you eat.

Iron is found in lots of different foods, but it is difficult to absorb. This makes it hard for your body to take in enough iron to meet its needs when you are pregnant. If you don’t provide your body with enough iron in your diet, your body makes fewer red blood cells. This is known as anemia. Anemia from iron deficiency is very common, and, fortunately, is fairly easy to remedy, as well.

Your body also needs a nutrient known as folate to make healthy red blood cells. Folate is easy to absorb and you can find it in most green vegetables.

What causes anemia? It’s usually brought on by a poor intake of folate- and iron-rich foods. It can also be caused by the destruction of red blood cells that occurs occasionally when you’re sick.

What are the symptoms and signs of anemia? Sometimes you won’t experience any symptoms. But if your anemia is severe, you may feel fatigued and weak.

Can you prevent anemia? Yes, you can eat foods high in iron. These include fortified grains, dried beans, eggs, fish, chicken and meat. The type of iron that is found in meats is called heme and it is easier to absorb than the iron that’s found in vegetables. If you’re suffering from anemia and you already eat meat, increasing the meat that you consume will readily increase the iron that your body receives from it.

Also, it’s a good idea to eat foods that are high in folic acid, like orange juice, wheat germ, green leafy vegetables and dried beans. Always eat foods that are high in vitamin C, too. This includes fresh raw vegetables, and citrus fruits.

Another way to get iron, and something people don’t think of very often, is cooking with iron pots. This can add up to 80% more iron to your diet that food cooked in aluminum. Be sure to always remember to take your prenatal vitamins, and your mineral pills that contain extra folate.

You can also take vitamin and iron tablets. Since it’s hard to get enough iron in your diet, you may need to take a supplement, in addition to eating foods high in iron. There is usually enough iron in your prenatal vitamin to avert anemia, but your health care provider may prescribe an extra iron supplement if you’re anemic. Take it in small amounts if it upsets your stomach. You may want to take a stool softener as well. Don’t take your iron supplement with calcium supplements or dairy products.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in anemia

Can Cinnamon Lower Blood Sugar Levels?

Comments: 0July 2nd, 2010 by admin



First let’s know what Cinnamon is. The cinnamon is obtained from an evergreen tree which is harvested in the rainy season. The actual cinnamon is produced by drying inner howl of such trees. The cinnamomum zelyanicum tree produces the high quality cinnamon. The cassia cinnamon is another type of cinnamon which is slightly different form the zelyanicum cinnamon. The original and true cinnamon can be found in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. The cinnamon is mostly used in baking and also in cooking. Due to its mind blowing aroma and unusual flavor it is very popular all around the world.

The ‘insulin’ in the human body controls and reduces the blood sugar level. The blood sugar problem occurs when the insulin works irregularly. According to some people the cinnamon helps insulin to perform its duty.

Can cinnamon lower blood sugar? It is a controversial question. Some people say that the cinnamon does not help to lower the blood sugar. Some people say that the cinnamon can be effective with type-2 diabetes. According to a group of researchers, a little amount of cinnamon can help the type-2 diabetic patients. These researchers performed the cinnamon test on type-2 diabetic patients. The researchers supplied 1 gram of cinnamon for 90 days. These patients continued their regular care while using cinnamon. Hemoglobin A1c is the type of blood cell which is measured to recognize the blood glucose levels. The researchers found 0.83% of hemoglobin A1c decrease in these patients. The researchers concluded that the cinnamon can effect doubly than regular blood sugar treatment. This study makes some people to believe that the cinnamon can be used for blood sugar control.

According to another study which was done in Pakistan in 2003, researchers found that the cinnamon can help to maintain the blood sugar level. They performed cinnamon test on 60 people having type-2 diabetes for 40 days. They found the effect of cinnamon even after 20 days. For this study they used the true cinnamon. They also used the cassia cinnamon for their study. The researchers divided 60 peoples in two groups. They supplied cinnamon capsules 3 times a day for one group and placebo (dummy medication) capsules for another group. The results from both the group made researchers to believe that the 1 gram of daily cinnamon can help to lower the blood sugar with type-2 diabetes patients.

Due to lack of enough evidences and some previous studies the use of cinnamon against diabetes makes it disputable.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Diabetes

General Aspects of Leukemia

Comments: 0March 15th, 2010 by admin



Many people suffer from leukemia these days. A large number of cases of cancer are identified to be leukemia. Leukemia is a sort of cancer of the blood and marrow. The disease is characterized through the overproducing of immature blood cells (stem cells) that aren’t able to fully develop and to carry out the activities of normal blood cells.

According to their functions and structure, there are three different types of cells within the normal blood: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Through the process of hematopoiesis, these three types of blood cells are developed from a distinctive type of blood cell called stem cell. Stem cells divide and go through several stages of development to finally form a mature blood cell of a particular type, with a certain, distinctive function in the body. The process through which a stem cell morphs into a mature blood cell takes place within the bone marrow.

According to the speed of development and the persistence of the disorder, there are two types of leukemia: acute leukemia and chronic leukemia. Acute leukemia is known to develop very rapidly, while chronic leukemia is developed slowly. According to the types of blood cells affected by the disease, leukemia can either be lymphocytic or myelogenous.

Lymphocytic and myelogenous types of leukemia are developed from different types of cells: the lymphocytic type of leukemia develops from cells called lymphoblasts or lymphocytes in the spongious tissue of the bones, while the myelogenous type of leukemia (sometimes refered to as myeloid and myelocytic leukemia) develops from myeloid cells.

In the case of acute forms of leukemia, the abnormal cells come from early, immature cells. Such forms of the disorder have a very fast rate of development, due to the fact that normal stem cells tend to multiply frequently. Leukemia cells usually don’t divide faster and more frequently than normal stem cells, they simply don’t stop their process of division when they should. Sometimes the numbers of white blood cells are very high, while in other cases they can be normal or low.

Chronic leukemia, apart from its slow development, is different from acute leukemia by the level of maturation that the diseased cells are able to reach. Stem cells affected by chronic leukemia reach a higher level of maturation but they present abnormalities and they can’t act as healthy white blood cells do. Unlike acute leukemia, in the chronic form of the disease the unhealthy cells have much longer periods of life and they tend to accumulate in different parts of the body.

Leukemia affects people of all age groups. While children usually respond better to the treatment for leukemia and sometimes deal well with the disease, adults difficultly cope with this form of cancer.

Regardless of age and sex, many people are diagnosed with forms of leukemia. Children tend to respond better to some types of leukemia, while adults difficultly cope with the disease. The cases of acute leukemia exceed those of chronic leukemia by approximately 10 percent. Older adults seem to be affected the most by acute leukemia. Around two thirds of acute leukemia cases seem to occur after the age of 60.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in leukimia