Anemia is not a disease in itself, it’s a problem usually caused by some other illness. Your doctor’s first job is to find out why you’re anemic, why you’re feeling as run-down as you are. The person who has anemia often appears very pale. In addition, there may be shortness of breath, heart-pounding, numbness, and weakness. All of these, however, are very common problems which can be caused by any number of other diseases.
Your doctor will usually discover that you are anemic during a regular physical check-up. He does this by taking a blood test. In the blood test he measures the number of red blood cells and the amount of chemical called hemoglobin in these red cells. Hemoglobin is the substance which carries oxygen from the area of your lungs to all parts of your body. When your red blood cells and hemoglobin are below normal, they are not able to carry enough oxygen to your body. It is up to your doctor to find out why this situation exists.
Anemia may be caused by one or more of the following conditions: (1) Lack of building materials for the blood, especially iron; (2) Loss of blood from the body; (3) Destruction of blood in the body itself. In some cases this is related to a part of the body called the spleen; (4) Not enough production of new blood by the bone marrow, which is the factory in your body for manufacturing blood; (5) A rare disease known as pernicious anemia in which the body does not contain enough vitamin B12, which is gotten form the food you eat; (6) Nutritional deficiencies of various kinds.
Anemia is often tied to arthritis and infections, to cancer or leukemia, or to kidney or liver disorders. When such diseases exist the anemia may be caused by a combination of two things — destruction of blood within the body, and not enough new blood being manufactured within your bone marrow factory. Continuous bleeding from the body can lead to anemia. Sometimes the blood loss can be seen, as in the case of a very heavy menstrual flow for example, or in bleeding through your digestive system which causes black stools.
At times there is hidden bleeding, usually in the stomach or bowels. If the invisible loss of blood cuts down on the body’s store of iron, an iron deficiency anemia will result. The iron deficiency itself will clear up by taking one of the many iron tonics on the market. However, tonics won’t take care of the basic cause. Doing away with the iron deficiency is often dangerous because it delays finding out and treating the real cause of the problem.
The doctor will not be satisfied with just getting your blood count back to normal. He will study the problem until he finds the cause. If he cannot find the cause by taking a history and doing a complete physical examination he may order additional blood and urine tests, such as X-ray studies, examination of the bone marrow, or other tests.
The first step in treating anemia is to treat the cause of the anemia, whether it is arthritis, infections, bleeding stomach ulcer, cancer of the colon, or another cause.
Once this has been done, the doctor may prescribe medicine containing iron and vitamins to build your blood back up. If he finds a disease which prevents your body from absorbing vitamin B12, he will then give you B12 shots.
In rare cases of severe anemia or sudden blood loss, a transfusion of blood may have to be given. In some instances iron deficiency is not associated with a disease; it can be part of the growing process which happens during the period of rapid growth among youngsters or while a woman is pregnant. Under such circumstances, the doctor can rely on a medicine containing iron to take care of their temporary health problems.