Anemia Diagnosis & Treatment

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Anemia is generally defined as the lack of circulating red blood cells or iron in the blood. It is mainly caused by excessive loss of blood, high rate of red blood cell destruction and insufficient red blood cell production.

Sometimes, anemia is not thought of as a disease in itself but a symptom of another underlying disease. This complication of medical conditions is the reason why it is important to find out what causes your anemia first.

The first step to diagnose and treat anemia is through a blood test. Through this test, doctors will be able to find out about the exact cause of your anemia. Here are the following possible diagnosis and treatments to anemia:

Iron deficiency anemia

This anemia diagnosis is treatable with oral or intravenous iron supplements or iron replacement therapy.

Oral iron supplements are the most effective way to restore iron levels for those who are iron deficient. However, this should only be used when dietary measures have failed. Anemia that is not due to iron deficiency cannot be treated with oral iron supplements.

Because oral iron supplements commonly cause gastrointestinal problems and discomfort, intravenous or injected iron is administered. This anemia treatment is used when oral supplements did not work or in emergencies. The body absorbs intravenous iron faster than oral iron. This is why when the body needs iron faster than it can absorb oral iron, intravenous iron is needed.

Both of these methods include side effects that should be closely monitored. Some of these are blood clots, fever, joint aches, headache, rashes, delayed reaction of joint and muscle aches. Some of these may hint to iron poisoning which is rare in adults but fatal in children.

Iron replacement therapy is generally more dangerous because it can cause gastrointestinal problems. It may also lead to too much iron in the body which can contribute to heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.

Anemia due to excessive loss of blood

Blood transfusion is the method used to replace the blood that has been lost due to injuries or some surgeries. This anemia treatment, when frequent, may lead to iron overload which causes liver and heart damage. Iron chelation therapy is used to remove the excess iron caused by frequent blood transfusions.

Anemia due to excessive destruction of blood cells

The best anemia treatment for this is blood and marrow stem cell transplant. Stem cells are the cells which develop into red and white blood cells and platelets. This treatment replaces the faulty stem cells in a patient’s system with healthy stem cells from a donor.

Anemia due to chronic disease

This anemia diagnosis includes anemia brought about by ongoing or long term diseases. It is believed that there is no better cure for this than to treat the disease itself. For example, if a patient’s body is destroying more red blood cells than it can produce, the spleen may have to be removed because it is the organ responsible for destroying worn-out red blood cells in the body. If the spleen is enlarged or diseased, it may remove and destroy more than it should.