Fatigue on waking and throughout the day, pallor, chilliness: do not confuse a transient low point with anemia.
Definition: What Is Anemia?
In short, anemia is a hemoglobin deficiency. Anemia is an abnormal drop in the hemoglobin level in the blood: this does not mean a drop in the number of red blood cells, but in the concentration of this protein, hemoglobin, inside the red blood cells. This protein (globin) and its pigment (heme) transport oxygen from the lungs to the whole body and bring carbon dioxide back to the lungs.
On your blood test results, in the ” hematology ” section, your number of red blood cells (erythrocytes) is indicated, and on the line just below, your hemoglobin level: opposite, the reference values (between 12.0 and 16.0). When this rate is less than 13 g/dl in a man and 12 g/dl in a woman, this is a sign of anemia.
The Causes Of Anemia
We Need To Make More, Or We Lose Too Much
Anemia is a symptom: there are 200 possible causes! They fall into two categories, central anemia, and peripheral anemia. In everyday language, this distinguishes anemia because one does not produce enough hemoglobin (central anemia) or produces enough but loses too much (peripheral anemia). Peripheral anemias are the equivalent of the emptying reservoir: important female menstrual cycle, injury with bleeding, surgical intervention, blood loss due to an ulcer, etc. They are very exceptional due to pathology (in this case, hemolytic anemia, an autoimmune disease where the body produces antibodies against red blood cells).
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A Simple Iron Nutritional Deficiency Or A Serious Pathology
Central anemias are due to insufficient production of red blood cells and hemoglobin by the bone marrow. Fortunately, the most common case is also the simplest: a nutritional iron deficiency, the trace element that makes up hemoglobin and is used precisely for oxygen transport. Other possible deficiencies are those in vitamin B12 and B9 (folic acid) due to dietary deficiency and aging.
Things get much more complicated in the pathology department: sickle cell anemia (or sickle cell anemia) is a genetic disease that destroys red blood cells. It is common in certain regions of the globe (Mediterranean basin and Middle East). In our country, chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or cancer (including leukemia) completely disrupt the production of red blood cells. Another source of central anemia is kidney failure: EPO is not supposed to boost cyclists. Erythropoietin is this hormone the kidneys produce, stimulating the bone marrow. Kidney disease can cause anemia.
Symptoms Of Anemia
Here Are The Right Questions To Ask Yourself
The common denominator in all anemias is fatigue. However, it is not because one is tired that one is anemic: ask yourself if you are tired as soon as you wake up, a fatigue that does not go away during the day. And if you have difficulty concentrating and find your usual activities difficult. Are you cold? Since iron is a thermal regulator, anemia due to iron deficiency makes you chilly. Look at the flesh under your eye, pulling on it: if it is pale red to white, it is a sign of anemia.
Symptoms That Should Lead You To Consult
Do not hesitate to consult if you need to sit down and have dizziness.
And do it imperatively if you have a pale complexion, numb feet, cold extremities regardless of the temperature, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, body aches, or visual disturbances.
Put Some Iron Back On Your Plate!
If your anemia is due to iron deficiency, remember the foods that will boost you. This is a moderate time to go vegetarian; the trio of black pudding, offal, and red meat is at the top of the list. Add the shellfish. To perk you up, the recommended weekly rhythm is four two servings of meat, two poultry, and two fish.
As for fruits and vegetables, lentils in all seasons: you already knew it; it’s one of the things that all grandmothers teach you. Hot or cold lentils in a salad. And the basket is not finished: add millet, beets, avocado, radishes, celery, onions, carrots, tomatoes, apples, plums, pears, peaches, lemon, dried fruits, figs, bananas, macadamia nuts.
And for sweets, candied ginger, dark chocolate, and honey. Speaking of bees, take a pollen cure. Particularly if you are a woman bothered by heavy periods, infusions of nettles, very rich in iron, or lapacho, with iron easily assimilated by the body, will do you good. On this subject, it is better to force iron than to turn to hormonal treatment to reduce the flow.
Incidentally, being menopausal does not only have disadvantages: from a certain age, women are much less exposed to anemia! So many dietary precautions that in no way exempt you from a medical examination: anemia is a symptom, the cause of which you do not know. Only a blood count can tell the nature of your anemia.
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