What Is Anemia And How Is It Treated?

What Is Anemia And How Is It Treated?

Anemia is perhaps one of the most common blood disorders known today. It is characterized by symptoms like chronic fatigue and is generally caused by a lack of red blood cells being produced. 

There are more than 400 different kinds of anemia in the world today, each one caused by one of three common reasons. The treatment of this condition will depend on what is causing it, so anyone who finds themselves suffering from chronic fatigue is advised to see their doctor as soon as possible for a complete checkup. Only through blood tests and various monitoring tests will the anemia be detected.

Types Of Anemia

In addition to the most common form of anemia, there are more than 400 different types of anemia known to medicine today. To help keep it all straight, let's just say that the different types can easily be categorized into three separate categories depending upon their diagnoses.

• Caused by blood loss: This could be because of hemorrhoids, menstruation, cancer or long-term internal bleeding.

• Caused by decreased red blood cell production (most common): This could be brought on by deficiency in iron or vitamins or problems with the stem cells or bone marrow.

• Caused by the destruction of red blood cells: This is usually brought on by blood disorders, thalassemia, distended spleen, advanced kidney or liver disease or anything that stresses the immune system such as certain drugs, insect or snake venom and severe food allergies.

Treatment

The exact treatment of your particular type of anemia will depend upon what other symptoms you might have, what might be the cause of the red blood cell depletion and whether there are significant missing vitamins or minerals such as iron or potassium that need to be a part of the treatment.

The total length of time that would be needed to undergo this type of therapy will also be dependent upon your exact condition. 

Your doctor will be able to tell you how long you will need to be on whatever medications or supplements you are prescribed and what may happen if you should go off of them. In the majority of cases, simple iron deficiency is the cause and can be made up for by adding iron supplements to your daily diet.

Extreme cases are usually rare but they do exist, so seeing your doctor is the most important part of treatment for any case of anemia today.

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