ANEMIA DESCRIPTION

The tissues of the human body need a regular supply of oxygen to stay healthy. Red blood cells, which contain hemoglobin that allows them to deliver oxygen throughout the body, live for only about 120 days. When they die, the iron they contain is returned to the bone marrow and used to create new red blood cells. Anemia develops when heavy bleeding causes significant iron loss or when something happens to slow down the production of red blood cells or to increase the rate at which they are destroyed.

Types of anemia

Anemia can be mild, moderate, or severe enough to lead to life-threatening complications. More than 400 different types of anemia have been identified. Many of them are rare.

IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia in the world. In the United States, iron deficiency anemia affects about 240,000 toddlers between one and two years of age and 3.3 million women of childbearing age. This condition is less common in older children and in adults over 50 and rarely occurs in teenage boys and young men.

The onset of iron deficiency anemia is gradual and, at first, there may not be any symptoms. The deficiency begins when the body loses more iron than it derives from food and other sources. Because depleted iron stores cannot meet the red blood cell's needs, fewer red blood cells develop. In this early stage of anemia, the red blood cells look normal, but they are reduced in number. Then the body tries to compensate for the iron deficiency by producing more red blood cells, which are characteristically small in size. Symptoms develop at this stage.

FOLIC ACID DEFICIENCY ANEMIA Folic acid deficiency anemia is the most common type of megaloblastic anemia (in which red blood cells are bigger than normal). It is caused by a deficiency of folic acid, a vitamin that the body needs to produce normal cells.

Folic acid anemia is especially common in infants and teenagers. Although this condition usually results from a dietary deficiency, it is sometimes due to inability to absorb enough folic acid from such foods as:

• cheese
• eggs
• fish
• green vegetables
• meat
• milk
• mushrooms
• yeast

Smoking raises the risk of developing this condition by interfering with the absorption of Vitamin C, which the body needs to absorb folic acid. Folic acid anemia can be a complication of pregnancy, when a woman's body needs eight times more folic acid than it does otherwise.

VITAMIN B₁₂ DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

Less common in this country than folic acid anemia, vitamin B₁₂ deficiency anemia is another type of megaloblastic anemia that develops when the body doesn't absorb enough of this nutrient. Necessary for the creation of red blood cells, B₁₂ is found in meat and vegetables.

Large amounts of B₁₂ are stored in the body, so this condition may not become apparent until as much as four years after B₁₂ absorption stops or slows down. The resulting drop in red blood cell production can cause:

• loss of muscle control
• loss of sensation in the legs, hands, and feet
• soreness or burning of the tongue
• weight loss
• yellow-blue color blindness

The most common form of B₁₂ deficiency is pernicious anemia. Since most people who eat meat or eggs get enough B₁₂ in their diets, a deficiency of this vitamin usually means that the body is not absorbing it properly. This can occur among people who have had intestinal surgery or among those who do not produce adequate amounts of intrinsic factor, a chemical secreted by the stomach lining that combines with B₁₂ to help its absorption in the small intestine.

Pernicious anemia usually strikes between the ages of 50-60. Eating disorders or an unbalanced diet increases the risk of developing pernicious anemia. So do:

• diabetes mellitus
• gastritis, stomach cancer, or stomach surgery
• thyroid disease
• family history of pernicious anemia

VITAMIN C DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

A rare disorder that causes the bone marrow to manufacture abnormally small red blood cells, Vitamin C deficiency anemia results from a severe, long-standing dietary deficiency.

HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA

Some people are born with hemolytic anemia. Some acquire this condition, in which infection or antibodies destroy red blood cells more rapidly than bone marrow can replace them.

Hemolytic anemia can enlarge the spleen, accelerating the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis). Other complications of hemolytic anemia include:

• pain
• shock
• gallstones and other serious health problems

THALASSEMIAS

An inherited form of hemolytic anemia, thalassemia stems from the body's inability to manufacture as much normal hemoglobin as it needs. There are two categories of thalassemia, depending on which of the amino acid chains is affected. (Hemoglobin is composed of four chains of amino acids.) In alpha-thalassemia, there is an imbalance in the production of the alpha chain of amino acids; in beta-thalassemia, there is an imbalance in the beta chain. Alpha-thalassemias most commonly affect blacks (25% have at least one gene); beta-thalassemias most commonly affect people of Mediterranean ancestry and Southeast Asians.

Characterized by production of red blood cells that are unusually small and fragile, thalassemia only affects people who inherit the gene for it from each parent (autosomal recessive inheritance).

AUTOIMMUNE HEMOLYTIC ANEMIAS

Warm antibody hemolytic anemia is the most common type of this disorder. This condition occurs when the body produces autoantibodies that coat red blood cells. The coated cells are destroyed by the spleen, liver, or bone marrow.

Warm antibody hemolytic anemia is more common in women than in men. About one-third of patients who have warm antibody hemolytic anemia also have lymphoma, leukemia, lupus, or connective tissue disease.

In cold antibody hemolytic anemia, the body attacks red blood cells at or below normal body temperature. The acute form of this condition frequently develops in people who have had pneumonia, mononeucleosis, or other acute infections. It tends to be mild and short-lived, and disappears without treatment.

Chronic cold antibody hemolytic anemia is most common in women and most often affects those who are over 40 and who have arthritis. This condition usually lasts for a lifetime, generally causing few symptoms. However, exposure to cold temperatures can accelerate red blood cell destruction, causing fatigue, joint aches, and discoloration of the arms and hands.

SICKLE CELL ANEMIA

Sickle cell anemia is a chronic, incurable condition that causes the body to produce defective hemoglobin, which forces red blood cells to assume an abnormal crescent shape. Unlike normal oval cells, fragile sickle cells can't hold enough hemoglobin to nourish body tissues. The deformed shape makes it hard for sickle cells to pass through narrow blood vessels. When capillaries become obstructed, a life-threatening condition called sickle cell crisis is likely to occur.

Sickle cell anemia is hereditary. It almost always affects blacks and people of Mediterranean descent. A child who inherits the sickle cell gene from each parent will have the disease. A child who inherits the sickle cell gene from only one parent carries the sickle cell trait, but does not have the disease.

APLASTIC ANEMIA

Sometimes curable by bone marrow transplant, but potentially fatal, aplastic anemia is characterized by decreased production of red and white blood cells and platelets (disc-shaped cells that allow the blood to clot). This disorder may be inherited or acquired as a result of:

• recent severe illness
• long-term exposure to industrial chemicals
• use of anticancer drugs and certain other medications

ANEMIA OF CHRONIC DISEASE Cancer, chronic infection or inflammation, and kidney and liver disease often cause mild or moderate anemia. Chronic liver failure generally produces the most severe symptoms.