Medicine

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Symptoms and treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia

Iron Deficiency Anemia is called the blood disease in which the total number of red blood cells is diminished because of a Lower-than-normal quantity of Iron in the body. This condition is also called:
-Sideropenic Anemia (from ancient greek: Sideros=iron, Paenia=less, An=absent, Haemia=blood)
-Sideropenic Microcytic Anemia (from ancient greek: Micro=small, Cytic=cellular)
-It is also spelled Anaemia.


 by andres.thor
Iron deficiency anemia

Iron deficiency anemia is the most frequent cause of small cell anemia. This disease has several causes, that are all related to the deficiency of iron in the body, but this deficiency happens from a variety of factors. Iron can be lowered by:
Excessive loss (from example from long hemorrhages)
Diminished intake of iron (bad diets, chronic alcohol use..)
Diminished absorption from the guts or from the bone marrow
Augmented need for iron by the body (for example in women, more iron is needed during menstruation because of the blood loss, however anemia is seen more in women with hypermenorrhea, that is a menstruation with an high quantity of blood)
The symptoms of Iron deficiency anemia are:
The most frequent symptoms of every type of anemia are:
-pallor: the yellowish color of the skin that is caused by the lowered number of red blood cells
-fatigue
-weakness
-dyspnea (difficult breathing)
More specific symptoms of Iron deficiency anemia are:
-Pica (pica is a psychological condition in which the patient is oriented in eating everything, especially non nutritional foods, like wood, iron...)
-Pagophagia (A patient who needs to eat Ice-cream!!!)
-Constipation
-Sleepines
-Tinnitus (hearing of virtual sounds)
-Palpitations (feeling of the proper heartbeat, inside the chest)
-Allopecia (hair loss)
-Lipotimia (fainting)
Also this type of anemia is associated with the Plummer-Vinson syndrome, a disorder in which there are present dysphagia, iron- deficiency anemia, and esophageal webbing. It is a rare affection wich affects mainly white women.
For diagnosing the Iron deficiency anemia, the laboratory test should show a decrease in ferritin, hemoglobin, MCV, and an increase in TIBC, transferrin, RDW.
The laboratory measurements are altered in order. First the ferritin falls, than free iron in the blood falls. After these, transferrin can’t bind with iron, and is augmented, and the last parameter that changes is the dimension of the red blood cell, that is lowered and the cell becomes “microcytic”.
Also the clinician has to watch for the typical symptoms and make an important division between Iron deficiency anemia, and Thalassemia, because of the same laboratory results.
The Anaemia treatment is:
First of all should be treated the cause of anemia, that can be a bleeding, or a prolonged menstruation in females. If no cause is found from the doctor, Iron suplements should be started. If the cause is dietary iron deficiency, iron supplements, usually with iron(II) sulfate, ferrous gluconate, or iron amino acid chelate ferrous bisglycinate, synthetic chelate NaFerredetate, EDTA will usually correct the anemia.
Iron deficiency anemia is usually a treatable disease, and it’s signs and symptoms disappear after proper treatment. But, the physician MUST be very concerned about the cause of this type anemia. As we said, the cause can be from a simple bad nutrition, too a severe hemmorhage, or even a cancer that is causing bleeding!

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