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Anemia

Anemia: causes and types

What is anemia?

Anemia is low blood functionally full of red cells (erythrocytes), this condition is also called low hemoglobin (read more in the article: the causes and symptoms of low hemoglobin). Anemia can develop in a person who suffers from many other diseases. Quantitatively it is expressed by the degree of reduction of concentration of hemoglobin – iron-containing pigment of red blood cells that gives blood the red color.


Causes of anemia

The causes of anemia are many, but there are basic:

– impaired production of erythrocytes from the bone marrow;

– hemolysis (destruction) or shortened lifespan of red blood cells, normal component of 4 months;

– acute or chronic bleeding.

Now let us consider the points above.

The first reason is the disruption or reduced production of red blood cells. This fact, as a rule, lies at the heart anemia with associated renal disease, endocrine insufficiency, protein depletion, cancer, chronic infections.

Cause of anemia may be an insufficient number in the body iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid, and in rare cases, mostly in children – deficiency of vitamin C and pyridoxine. These substances are necessary for the formation of the body's red blood cells.

Other pathogens include hemolysis. The main reason of this disease can be attributed to the irregularity of the work of red blood cells, or simply defect. In anemia the red blood cells begin to break down in the blood, this can occur due to disorders of hemoglobin or changes in internal hormones. It happens that the cause of the hemolysis becomes a disease of the spleen.

Bleeding. This fact becomes a cause of anemia only if the bleeding was prolonged.

Recover all of the main part of red blood cells, in addition to iron. Thus, chronic blood loss because of the depletion of iron in the body causes anemia, which may develop even when a sufficient amount of iron in consumed foods. As a rule, the bleeding originated in the uterus and gastrointestinal tract.

The types of anemia

There are the following types of anemia:

Iron-deficiency anemia. Occurs when deficiency of iron. Often this type of anemia occurs in women inchildbearing age due to blood loss during menstruation, and during pregnancy when the body lacks iron.

Pernicious anemia. If you it is sick, it means that you do not have enough vitamin B12 class.

This vitamin is especially necessary for our brain and nervous system, its absence may lead to the development of anemia and degeneration of nerves. Scientists have conducted several experiments, and they revealed the reason for the lack of this vitamin in humans. The fact that it affects only those people whose body is unable to reproduce in the stomach, special enzymes, which could absorb this vitamin.

Aplastic anemia. This means that in the bone marrow there is a lack or complete absence of the tissue that produces blood cells. Hurt only those people who have been a particular influence: the radiation, or some other.

Sickle-cell anemia. This is quite a serious disease that is transmitted by heredity. Red blood cells in this disease have an abnormal Crescent shape. This leads to anemia and, as a consequence, the appearance of jaundice and the slow blood flow.

Starozytna congenital anemia. Another type of hereditary anemia. Instead of the normal biconcave discoid erythrocyte cells are formed round shape, which are rapidly destroyed by the spleen. As a consequence, the develop jaundice, increased spleen and can form stones in the gallbladder.

Drug anemia. Some sensitive individuals this reaction can cause an antimalarial drug, some sulfonamides and even aspirin.