Anemia: how to deal with it?

Your blood results show anemia and you wonder what it is and how to treat it? Do you want to know what actually causes anemia and whether the anemia is serious? We will help you find answers to these questions. 

Some people have a tendency to develop anemia since childhood, others - such as pregnant women - begin to struggle with it at some point in their lives. That is why today for all anemics we present some of the most important information about anemia, incl. what exactly is anemia, what causes anemia, what anemia requires treatment. 

What is anemia? 

Anemia: symptoms 

Often when it develops with us anemia and we start to feel bad, we look at forum Internet to see if similar to what we felt symptoms they teased others too. Participants forum not infrequently they complain that they have anemia she gave such symptoms such as easy fatigue, general weakness, fainting, headaches and dizziness, deterioration of memory, pale skin and mucous membranes. However, it is worth knowing that anemia can cause a number of other, less specific symptoms.

They include, among others:

• nausea, constipation or diarrhea, loss of appetite
• apathy, depression,
• sensitivity to cold,
• chest pain of a coronary nature, increased heart rate
• irregular periods, decrease or loss of sex drive.

As you can see, symptoms what gives anemia, they can be not only the classic ones you can read about on the internet forum, but also less specific and therefore more difficult to associate with anemia. Therefore, remember to always diagnose any symptoms that worry you.

What causes anemia: causes

Are you wondering what is caused by anemia? There are 3 main ones causes of anemia:

• impaired production of red blood cells in the bone marrow (aplastic and hypoplastic anemia);
• increased destruction of red blood cells around the periphery (haemolytic anemia);
• loss of red blood cells in bleeding and chronic bleeding (haemorrhagic anemia).

The causes of some types of anemia lie in the deficiency of nutrients in the patient's menu, and the article is devoted primarily to these anemia.

There are three types of diet-related anemia:

• iron deficiency anemia - iron is the main one an element whose deficiency may cause anemia. 
• folic acid deficiency anemia,
• vitamin B12 deficiency anemia.

Is anemia serious? 

Patients often ask not only what anemia is and what causes anemia, but also whether the anemia is dangerous to their health and whether it can be treated. The consequences of anemia depend on its severity and cause. Untreated anemia causes many of the unpleasant symptoms mentioned earlier. However, anemia is especially dangerous for organs sensitive to hypoxia, such as the brain and heart muscle cells.  

How to cure anemia? 

To know how to cure anemia, you first need to get a thorough diagnosis. Basic and specialized blood and bone marrow tests are necessary to diagnose anemia, determine what it is caused and what is its stage of advancement. Among them are:

• hemoglobin concentration;
• hematocrit size;
• red blood cell count
• mean red blood cell volume (MCV);
• mean blood cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC);
• mean blood hemoglobin mass (MCH);
• iron, transferrin and ferritin concentration;
• cytological examination of blood and bone marrow smears.

Anemia from iron deficiency: leczenie diet 

Iron is an element in which deficiency is the most common cause of anemia, and iron deficiency anemia is one of the most common diseases in the world. Statistics suggest that up to 10-30% of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency.

What is iron deficiency anemia caused by? The reason for the deficiency of this element in the human body, and as a result of anemia, may be:

• iron-poor diet - e.g. vegetarian or vegan;
• increased demand for this mineral - e.g. during pregnancy (especially in twins), in newborns and premature babies, in adolescents in the period of rapid growth;
• disorders of iron absorption in the gastrointestinal tract - e.g. after partial or complete gastric resection, as a result of chronic diarrhea associated with e.g. celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pancreatitis;
• blood loss - e.g. in women as a result of heavy menstruation, as a result of gastrointestinal bleeding accompanying e.g. gastric ulcer, esophageal varices, or gastric or intestinal cancer.

If you want to treatment of anemia was effective, include the following vegetables and fruits in your menu:

• VEGETABLES: red pepper, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, parsley, soybean sprouts, lentils, mung beans; spinach, uraki, parsley, lettuce, spinach;
• FRUITS: wild rose, currants (especially black currants), strawberries, lemon, grapefruit, orange, kiwi, avocado, papaya, melon, mango.

Eating raw vegetables and fresh fruits rich in vitamin C can increase your iron absorption by up to three times.

Anemia and treatment diet: what to watch out for?

There are also some food ingredients that limit iron absorption. These include, for example: tannins, polyphenols, and oxalates. These compounds permanently bind iron in the gastrointestinal tract and therefore cannot be absorbed into the intestines and into the blood. Therefore, when treating anemia resulting from a deficiency of this mineral, follow these guidelines:

• do not wash down meals or iron supplements with tea (especially strong) or coffee (they contain tannins);
• avoid rhubarb, sorrel and beetroot - these are the richest in oxalates;
• avoid chocolate, chocolate products and cocoa - they contain polyphenols;
• do not take supplements containing zinc and calcium - these minerals compete with iron in the absorption processes in the gut).

Folic acid deficiency anemia 

One of the diet-related anemia is that caused by a deficiency of folic acid. Folic acid is a B vitamin (vitamin B9 to be exact). A good source of it, in addition to the above-mentioned vegetables and fruits, are wheat germ, oatmeal, almonds and other nuts, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, eggs and liver.

Some food manufacturers enrich their products with folic acid to help society meet our body's need for this ingredient. The most common are fruit drinks, yoghurts, breakfast cereals, flour and baked goods made of it, as well as food products for infants and young children (porridges, purees, lenses). Including such products in your menu is a good complement to the treatment of folic acid deficiency anemia.

Vitamin B deficiency anemia12

Vitamin B12 is found only in products of animal origin, i.e. meat, fish, offal, eggs (yolk), milk and dairy products. That is why vegans are a group of people particularly exposed to anemia due to deficiency of this vitamin, who exclude all animal products from the menu. They should ingest 12 mcg of vitamin B2000 daily (preferably in the form of a drug, not a supplement).

Nutrition components that influence the health of our red blood cells are highly interdependent. Vitamin B12 deficiency hinders the absorption of folic acid, while folic acid deficiency limits the absorption of iron. Therefore, it is good to compose meals so that they include products rich in these three basic hematopoietic factors. And do not forget about the addition of vitamin C, which improves iron absorption. Here are some examples:

Can anemia be cured? 

Question - cthe anemia can be cured? doctors or nutritionists ask patients who have been struggling with anemia for years. Yes, anemia can be curedbut sometimes the diet itself to compensate for iron deficiencies or vitamin B12 is not enough. In many cases, it is necessary to introduce appropriate supplementation. Remember to leave the choice of preparation and determining its dose to the doctor. There are many different iron preparations available on the market, so a specialist should choose the one that is best for you.

What else causes anemia? 

It's good to know that what can cause anemia is our body's autoimmune reaction. Addison-Biermer Anemia, also called pernicious anemia, is an autoimmune disease caused by the malabsorption of vitamin B12 due to the formation of two types of antibodies:

• IgG against the parietal cells in the stomach, preventing the production of Castle's intrinsic factor (IF)
• IgA and IgG directed against Castle's intrinsic factor alone.

People whose IF production is impaired, vitamin B12 deficiency occurs regardless of whether the amount in the diet is normal or not. Treatment of pernicious anemia requires injections of the necessary vitamin.