Anemia
In this condition factsheet:
Diagnosing Anemia
Your doctor will ask for a blood sample that will be sent to the laboratory for a hemoglobin level. This measures the number of grams of hemoglobin per litre of your blood. Your blood will also be checked for levels of white blood cells, platelets, and various other blood components. The laboratory will also look at the size and shape of your RBCs.
The different levels, and how the blood cells look, can tell the doctor a lot about what's causing the anemia. For instance, low red and white cells suggest a condition involving the bone marrow or spleen. The doctor will then test for other conditions, depending on the results of your initial blood test.
Treating and Preventing Anemia
The treatment for anemia depends on the underlying illness causing it. Severe bleeding is usually treated with blood transfusions. You may also need regular transfusions of blood if you have a serious chronic type of anemia (e.g., Fanconi anemia or sickle cell anemia).
There has been a great improvement in lifespan for people with sickle cell anemia. In the past, those with the disease often did not survive to adulthood. The expected life span has now surpassed 50 years of age. The disease is managed by general health maintenance, vaccinations, folate supplementation, and the medication hydroxyurea. Currently, the only cure is a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (a procedure which replaces the abnormal bone marrow). This procedure has many risks, and it is generally used only for those with advanced complications of the disease.
Iron supplements are used to treat iron-deficiency anemia. Infants who have this problem tend to be bottle-fed. A baby is able to absorb more iron from breast milk than from cow's milk. You may want to take iron supplements for yourself when breast-feeding your child. Iron supplements will also help in cases of mild anemia that's due to GI or menstrual bleeding. It may take 3 to 6 weeks of taking iron supplements to replenish the iron your body needs.
Vitamin B12, vitamin C, and folic acid are all crucial to RBC production; therefore, a deficiency in any one of these vitamins puts you at risk for anemia. Good sources of vitamin B12 include beef and fish. Vegetables don't contain this vitamin, so if you don't eat meat, fish, or dairy products, you'll need to take vitamin B12 supplements. Sources of folic acid include spinach, green peas, oranges, and cantaloupe. Iron from vegetables is not as well absorbed by the body as iron from meat sources, so you may also need to take iron supplements. For people with pernicious anemia, vitamin B12 injections are given into a muscle. These injections are given regularly until the cause can be corrected.
When anemia is caused by decreased production of RBCs, such as in cancer or severe kidney disease, medications such as epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa can be used. These medications mimic the action of erythropoietin, the natural hormone that causes the bone marrow to produce more RBCs.
*All medications have both common (generic) and brand names. The brand name is what a specific manufacturer calls the product (e.g., Tylenol®). The common name is the medical name for the medication (e.g., acetaminophen). A medication may have many brand names, but only one common name. This article lists medications by their common names. For information on a given medication, check our Drug Information database. For more information on brand names, speak with your doctor or pharmacist.
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