We think of pale and emaciated girls, or we stigmatize vegans with catastrophic phrases like: "but where do you find the iron" ...
Anemia is a known pathology but perhaps only superficially: it is serious because having anemia means that our cells do not receive the right amount of oxygen and therefore find it hard to live.
Anemia is generally defined as the deficiency of hemoglobin and iron in the blood : the hemoglobin, thanks to the iron it contains, brings oxygen to the cells and takes carbon dioxide, a waste product of the metabolism.
There are several types of anemia, and not all of them are diet dependent.
In order not to get lost in the depths of medicine, we will briefly see the main types of anemia, classified according to the cause of anemia itself.
Anemia, the main types: iron deficiency anemia
Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin, since it is iron that binds to oxygen and exchanges it with carbon dioxide . If I lose blood due to bleeding, if I do not introduce enough iron with proper nutrition, the hemoglobin produced in the bone marrow will not be effective in transporting oxygen and iron deficiency anemia may occur.
Symptoms:
> General weakness.
> Easy fatigability.
> Lack of appetite.
> Heartburn.
> Nerve pains.
> Tingling in the hands and feet.
> Palpitations.
> Brittle and concave and fragile nails and hair.
Who is most at risk? Who suffers from:
> Women with abundant or frequent menstrual flows.
> Presence of ulcers.
> Presence of intestinal polyps.
> Colon cancer.
> Diets poor in iron.
> Intestinal malabsorption, celiac disease.
> Presence of bleeding.
> Bleeding hemorrhoids.
With adequate iron supplementation, anemia heals, provided that the possible blood loss that caused it can also be eliminated.
Also read Anemia, the 7 foods to fight it at the table >>
Anemia, the main types: secondary (chronic) anemia
Secondary anemia is defined as the anemia that is the consequence of other diseases : chronic diseases such as AIDS, cancer, hepatitis, infectious or inflammatory diseases, or different chronic diseases.
There is secondary, physiological anemia in pregnancy, caused by the increase in the volume of blood circulating in the body of the pregnant woman.
Symptoms:
> The same as in primary anemia.
> More symptoms of predisposing disease.
Who is most at risk? Who suffers from:
> Subacute and chronic infections (tuberculosis, slow endocarditis, congenital syphilis).
> Acute joint rheumatism.
> Chronic evolutionary polyarthritis.
> Chronic renal failure (uremia).
> Leukemias.
> Malignant lymphogranuloma.
> Liver failure.
> Endocrine diseases
> Avitaminosis.
Rarely, secondary anemia is severe and its therapy and healing depend directly on that of the causal disease.
Anemia, the main types: aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia is caused by a limited capacity of the bone marrow to produce all three types of blood cells (red, white and platelet cells). Aplastic anemia can be life threatening.
The symptoms are those typical of anemia. Who is most at risk:
> Subjects with hepatitis.
> Subjects exposed to chemical-toxic substances.
> Subjects treated with certain medicines.
> Presence of tumors.
Anemia, the main types: hemolytic anemia
In hemolytic anemia the red blood cells are destroyed - in the spleen - at a rate so fast that they do not allow the bone marrow to replace them; occurs when the average life of red blood cells is less than about two weeks.
Symptoms:
> Malaise.
> Chills.
> Fever.
> Headache.
> Epistaxis (nosebleed).
> Hematuria (blood in the urine).
> Abdominal pains.
> Joint pains.
> Jaundice (more or less intense yellow coloring of the skin and mucous membranes).
> Tachycardia.
> Vertigo.
> In chronic hemolysis: jaundice sometimes barely perceptible or absent, splenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen) and hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver).
Who is most at risk. People with:
> Autoimmune disorders.
> Infectious diseases, such as viral pneumonia.
> Streptococcal septicemia.
> Intoxication from chemical substances (including drugs and snake venom).
Healing can occur spontaneously, with recovery from the "at risk" pathology, but an abundant blood transfusion is able to accelerate it.
Anemia, the main types: hemolytic anemia - fetal erythroblastosis
A special case of hemolytic anemia is fetal erythroblastosis, also called hemolytic anemia of the newborn . It is a haemolytic syndrome whose cause is related to the blood factor Rh (ie a protein found on the surface of the red blood cells of the RH-positive group).
When the mother is Rh-negative, the Rh-positive father and the Rh-positive fetus, small amounts of fetal blood that reach the maternal blood through the placenta or at the time of birth, cause maternal sensitization, or induce formation, in the blood serum of the mother, antibodies against the RH protein which, if they enter the blood of the fetus, cause hemolysis.
Generally, in the first pregnancy in these conditions the newborn is healthy (because normally the maternal sensitization is a consequence of the birth), the fetal erythroblastosis occurs only in the second pregnancy and is aggravated in the following ones, always when the mother is Rh-negative and the fetus Rh-positive.
Symptoms in newborns:
> Congenital hydrops, ie generalized edema.
> Idramnios (excess of amniotic fluid).
> Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly.
> The child is born dead or dies shortly after birth.
> Severe jaundice with yellow amniotic fluid and jaundice that occurs shortly after birth. The child has chances of survival that depend on the degree of anemia: one tenth of children with prolonged jaundice has permanent brain lesions.
The only useful therapy is blood transfusion to the fetus, within seven and a half months and transfusion (total blood replacement) to the newborn.
To avoid stable sensitization, prophylactic use is made of fetal erythroblastosis both avoiding that Rh-negative women receive, from infancy, Rh-positive blood transfusion, and practicing them, immediately after each birth, a vaccination with anti-Rh antibodies (passive immunoprophylaxis).
Anemia, the main types: Mediterranean anemia
Also called Cooley anemia, Cooley's disease, or thalassemia, Mediterranean anemia is a hereditary hemolytic disease that occurs in recessive homozygous individuals, or for whom the recessive pathological gene is present in the father and mother who are healthy carriers. Mediterranean anemia is widespread especially in the eastern and central Mediterranean basin
Symptoms:
> Splenomegaly.
> Hepatomegaly.
> Feverish crises.
> Bony decalcifications or porous thickening of the bones of the cranial vault.
> Mongolian appearance.
> Delayed growth.
In recessive heterozygous individuals ("healthy" carriers) forms of mild anemia are observed, with a benign evolution.
Anemia, the main types: pernicious anemia
Also called Biermer-Addison anemia, it is a chronic spontaneous disease characterized both by the presence of large red blood cells and by a blockage of their maturation.
The disease occurs most frequently from 40 to 70 years and is probably caused by the absence of an enzyme - the intrinsic factor of Castle - necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12 contained in foods of animal origin.
Symptoms:
> Anemic syndrome.
> Lack of appetite.
> Vomiting.
> Diarrhea.
> Abdominal pains.
> Inflammation of the tongue.
> Tingling in the legs.
In most cases, vitamin B12 therapy leads to recovery, but must be continued to avoid relapses. Untreated, pernicious anemia has very harmful health consequences, even fatal ones.
