Anemia is a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body's tissues. Having anemia, also referred to as low hemoglobin, can make you feel tired and weak.
There are many forms of anemia, each with its own cause. Anemia can be temporary or long term and can range from mild to severe. In most cases, anemia has more than one cause.
See your doctor if you suspect that you have anemia. It can be a warning sign of serious illness. Treatments for anemia, which depend on the cause, range from taking supplements to having medical procedures. You might be able to prevent some types of anemia by eating a healthy, varied diet. Anemia signs and symptoms vary depending on the cause and severity of anemia. Depending on the causes of your anemia, you might have no symptoms.
Fatigue has many causes besides anemia, so don't assume that if you're tired you must be anemic. Some people learn that their hemoglobin is low, which indicates anemia, when they donate blood. If you're told that you can't donate because of low hemoglobin, make an appointment with your doctor. Anemia can be due to a condition present at birth congenital or to a condition you develop acquired. Anemia occurs when your blood doesn't have enough red blood cells. Your body makes three types of blood cells — white blood cells to fight infection, platelets to help your blood clot, and red blood cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body and carbon dioxide from the body back to the lungs.
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin — an iron-rich protein that gives blood its red color. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body and to carry carbon dioxide from other parts of the body to your lungs to be exhaled. Most blood cells, including red blood cells, are produced regularly in your bone marrow — a spongy material found within the cavities of many of your large bones. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , typical menstrual bleeding lasts for 4 to 5 days and the amount of blood lost ranges from 2 to 3 tablespoons.
Women with excess menstrual bleeding typically bleed for more than seven days and lose twice as much blood as normal.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute , an estimated 20 percent of women of childbearing age have iron deficiency anemia.
Pregnant women are even more likely to have iron deficiency anemia because they require greater amounts of blood to support their growing babies. They occur when muscular tumors grow in the uterus.
The condition can usually be corrected easily. However, if anemia or iron deficiency is left untreated, it can lead to other health problems. This can lead to irregular heartbeat. In severe cases, it can lead to heart failure or an enlarged heart. In severe cases of iron deficiency, a child may be born prematurely or with a low birth weight.
Most pregnant women take iron supplements as part of their prenatal care to prevent this from happening. Infants and children who are severely deficient in iron may experience delayed growth and development. They may also be more prone to infections. Iron tablets can help restore iron levels in your body. If possible, you should take iron tablets on an empty stomach, which helps the body absorb them better.
If they upset your stomach, you can take them with meals. You may need to take the supplements for several months. Iron supplements may cause constipation or black stools.
Additionally, vitamin C helps your body absorb iron. A doctor may prescribe birth control pills to women who have heavy periods.
This can reduce the amount of menstrual bleeding each month. In the most severe cases, a blood transfusion can replace iron and blood loss quickly. When caused by inadequate iron intake, iron deficiency anemia can be prevented by eating a diet high in iron-rich foods and vitamin C.
Mothers should make sure to feed their babies breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula. Diagnosing and treating iron deficiency anemia by yourself can result in adverse health effects due to too much iron in your blood. The complications from too much iron in your blood include liver damage and constipation.
If you have symptoms of iron deficiency anemia, talk to your doctor instead. If you're not getting enough iron, you may develop iron-deficiency anemia.
Here are 10 signs and symptoms that you're deficient in iron. An iron infusion is one of the possible treatments for iron deficiency anemia. Here's what you need to know.
Not all hair loss is due to genetics. Having an iron deficiency inhibits your production of hemoglobin, which is essential for hair growth.
Iron is essential for good health, but many people are deficient in it. The foods you eat can influence how much iron your body ends up absorbing. The average American gets all the iron they need from the food they eat. In patients such as men, postmenopausal women, or younger women with severe anemia, the doctor may recommend additional testing.
These tests may include the following:. Sometimes it is difficult to diagnose the cause of iron deficiency, or your doctor may be concerned that there is a problem other than iron deficiency causing the anemia.
These may include inherited blood disorders called thalassemiasin which red blood cells also appear small and pale, hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease but not sickle cell trait alone , or other blood disorders.
People with chronic infections or conditions such as kidney failure, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory disorders may also have small red blood cells. When the cause of the anemia is not clear, your doctor may refer you to a hematologist, a medical specialist in blood disorders,for consultation and further evaluation.
Even if the cause of the iron deficiency can be identified and treated, it is still usually necessary to take medicinal iron more iron than a multivitamin can provide until the deficiency is corrected and the body's iron stores are replenished. In some cases, if the cause cannot be identified or corrected, the patient may have to receive supplemental iron on an ongoing basis.
The amount of iron needed to treat patients with iron deficiency is higher than the amount found in most daily multivitamin supplements. The amount of iron prescribed by your doctor will be in milligrams mg of elemental iron. Most people with iron deficiency need mg per day of elemental iron 2 to 5 mg of iron per kilogram of body weight per day. Ask your doctor how many milligrams of iron you should be taking per day. If you take vitamins, bring them to your doctor's visit to be sure.
There is no evidence that any one type of iron salt, liquid, or pill is better than the others, and the amount of elemental iron varies with different preparations. To be sure of the amount of iron in a product, check the packaging. In addition to elemental iron, the iron salt content ferrous sulfate, fumarate, or gluconate may also be listed on the package, which can make it confusing for consumers to know how many tablets or how much liquid to take to get the proper dosage of iron.
Iron is absorbed in the small intestine duodenum and first part of the jejunum. This means that enteric-coated iron tablets may not work as well.
If you take antacids, you should take iron tablets two hours before or four hours after the antacid. Vitamin C ascorbic acid improves iron absorption, and some doctors recommend that you take mg of vitamin C with iron tablets.
Possible side effects of iron tablets include abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and dark stools. In some cases your doctor may recommend intravenous IV iron. IV iron may be necessary to treat iron deficiency in patients who do not absorb iron well in the gastrointestinal tract, patients with severe iron deficiency or chronic blood loss, patients who are receiving supplemental erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates blood production, or patients who cannot tolerate oral iron.
If you need IV iron, your doctor may refer you to a hematologist to supervise the iron infusions. IV iron comes in different preparations:.
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