What is anaemia?

Anaemia is a disorder in which the level of haemoglobin in the blood is too low. The word anaemia comes from Greek anaimia, meaning without blood.

Haemoglobin

In order to understand what anaemia is, it should first be understood what haemoglobin is. Haemoglobin is a protein in the blood. All red blood cells in the human body are for the largest part filled with the protein haemoglobin. This protein is also the substance that gives the characteristic red colour to red blood cells. In addition, the substance haemoglobin is also responsible for the transportation of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the human (or animal) body.

Anaemia

When a human or animal suffers from anaemia there is too little haemoglobin in the blood. The most common cause of anaemia is an iron deficiency in the human body. An iron deficiency might be caused by an inadequate intake of iron through food, but it might also be because the body has difficulties absorbing iron. In addition, anaemia might be caused by an excessive loss of iron and therefore haemoglobin. A cause of excessive loss of iron and haemoglobin might be a serious (large) wound. This loss of blood can be external (the blood leaves the body) or internal (the blood stays in the body, but leaves the bloodstream). Internal blood loss can for example happen when the spleen ruptures.

Causes

Anaemia can have many different causes, some of which will be discussed below.

Decreased production of blood cells

A decreased production of red blood cells can be caused by an iron deficiency, a vitamin B12 deficiency, a folate deficiency, or a lack of intrinsic factor. However, hereditary diseases such as thalassaemia can also cause anaemia and so can chronic disorders (for example rheumatism), chronic infectious diseases or malignant tumours.

Increased destruction of blood cells

An increased destruction of blood cells can be caused by defects of the bloods cells, hereditary disorders such as sickle cell anaemia, immune processes, splenomegaly and even by infections of the red blood cells caused by parasites (for example malaria).

Blood loss

As has been written earlier in this article, anaemia can also be caused by (excessive) blood loss. It should be noted that the blood loss needs to be to such an extent that the body cannot produce as much blood as has been lost at the same time.

Sources: www.todio.nl