Anemia, a medical vocabulary that is often heard, do you know what state is called anemia? Do you know how to improve anemia?
The cause of anemia is mostly iron deficiency, and some people will feel free to supplement their nutrition if they have symptoms of anemia, but in fact, anemia may also be a sign of diseases.
What should I do with anemia? The most important thing is to find out the cause of anemia and improve it, in order to really improve the treatment of anemia.
Today I want to tell you some symptoms of anemia and what to eat to improve anemia.
What is anemia?
The lifespan of human red blood cells is about 120 days. During this period, the red blood cells will continue to be replaced. The bone marrow will make new red blood cells, and the old red blood cells will be broken down.
The red blood cells in the blood are responsible for delivering oxygen to the whole body. If the number of red blood cells or the amount of heme in the red blood cells is too low, it may cause insufficient oxygen in the body, which is called anemia.
When chronic anemia occurs, symptoms are often not so obvious and may include physical fatigue, weakness, difficulty breathing, or decreased mobility.
However, when acute anemia occurs, relatively strong symptoms may appear, which may include rapid paleness, unconsciousness, or feeling that you are about to faint.
What is the definition of anemia?
Anemia is a decrease in red blood cells or a decrease in heme, resulting in a state of thin blood. Heme content: Adult males below 13.0 g/dL and females below 12.0 g/dL are considered anemia.
The standard of red blood cell concentration for normal men is 4-6 million/UL, the standard for normal women is 3.8 million-5.5 million/UL; the normal standard for heme men is 13-18 g/dL, and the normal standard for women is 12-16 g/ dL.
What are the symptoms of anemia?
What are the symptoms of anemia? In addition to the lack of oxygen in the body, anemia can also cause various symptoms, and in severe cases, it can also endanger life. Several common symptoms of anemia are listed below:
- weak
- Shortness of breath
- headache
- Paled face
- Chest pain
- Dizzy
- Rapid heartbeat, palpitations
- No eyelids on the eyelids
- Dry and yellow skin
Mild anemia may not have any signs or symptoms, or it is just tired, the body feels weak, and the skin is pale or yellow. However, as the anemia worsens, these symptoms may continue to appear or become more obvious.
When severe anemia occurs, symptoms such as fainting, dizziness, severe thirst, excessive sweating, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath may also occur. It may also cause leg cramps, brain, and nerve damage during exercise.
The lack of red blood cells may also increase the heart’s burden of transporting oxygenated blood, which may cause various heart-related symptoms, including arrhythmia, cardiac hypertrophy, and serious heart failure.
Recognize the six major types of anemia
Iron deficiency anemia
Anemia due to lack of iron, iron deficiency anemia is caused by insufficient iron intake from the diet or poor absorption of iron by the body, it may also be due to blood loss leading to iron loss or more iron metabolism in the body than absorption.
Thalassemia
Thalassemia, also known as marine anemia, is a genetic disease. About 6% of the population in Taiwan has this gene. It is because of abnormal heme genes that produce abnormal heme, so that red blood cells are easily destroyed and cause anemia.
Generally, patients with mild marine anemia do not need treatment, and if iron deficiency anemia is combined, iron supplementation must be evaluated by a doctor.
There are several treatment methods for severe marine anemia to improve blood transfusion, iron excretion treatment, splenectomy, bone marrow transplantation, and so on.
Aplastic anemia
The causes of regenerative anemia can be divided into genetic and acquired types, which refers to the situation where the bone marrow fails to produce enough cells to supplement blood cells.
The number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in patients with aplastic anemia will be lower than normal.
Patients with aplastic anemia are prone to bruises, bleeding spots, and purple spots due to insufficient platelets. They are easily infected with fever and even fatal sepsis due to insufficient white blood cells.
There are two main treatment methods for aplastic anemia:
*Supportive Therapy: Receive appropriate blood transfusions and antibiotics, erythropoiesis stimulants to reduce infection and bleeding symptoms.
*Bone marrow transplantation and immunosuppressive drug treatment: such as immunoglobulin, steroids, etc.
Pernicious anemia
It is also called vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, and it is easy to predispose to women over 40 years old. A disease caused by insufficient red blood cells due to a lack of vitamin B12.
Pernicious anemia is due to the permanent atrophy of the gastric mucosa and the inability to secrete intrinsic factors. Due to the lack of intrinsic factors, vitamin B12 in food cannot be absorbed. People who have had a gastric ulcer or gastric cancer removal often have this disease.
The main reason for pernicious anemia is a lack of vitamin B12 and folic acid. If it is caused by malnutrition, it can be treated only by changing dietary habits. The improved treatment method is to take vitamin B12 and folic acid under the instructions of the doctor.
Hemolytic anemia
Hemolytic anemia can be divided into two types, inherited and acquired, according to the etiology. Most of the inherited hemolytic diseases are caused by the inherent defects of the red blood cells, and most of them will be destroyed in the spleen, so most of them are extravascular hemolysis; and acquired hemolysis Anemia is mostly caused by changes in the environment outside the blood cell.
Hemolytic anemia caused by hereditary diseases: Most are difficult to cure completely. Generally, conservative treatment for symptoms will be adopted. Splenectomy can be used prophylactically, or blood transfusion can also be used for treatment and improvement.
Non-hereditary hemolytic anemia generally has a cause. The most effective way to improve treatment is to directly treat the cause.
Hemorrhagic anemia
Acute hemorrhagic anemia is anemia caused by rapid massive bleeding; chronic hemorrhagic anemia is anemia caused by long-term moderate bleeding. Such as chronic gastrointestinal diseases (such as peptic ulcers or hemorrhoids), chronic bleeding in the urinary system, or gynecology.
The improved treatment method is to find the cause of bleeding to stop bleeding. If there is too much blood loss, you must find the matching blood for blood transfusion.
Which ethnic groups are prone to anemia?
Anemia patients are mostly iron-deficiency anemia and thalassemia. In addition to genetics, anemia may also be closely related to lifestyle, diet, and physical conditions. The following are the groups that are more prone to anemia:
- Have a family history of anemia
- Women who have more traffic during menstruation
- Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Gastrointestinal cancer
- Chronic drug abuser
- Patients with renal insufficiency
- Those with gastrointestinal ulcers
- Those with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism
- Vegan
- Long drink tea and coffee
- People who often eat processed foods
What should I do with anemia? What can I recommend to improve?
What should I do with anemia? What can anemia eat? In addition to the doctor’s diagnosis first, more iron should be added to improve dietary habits and intake of rich iron, but also pay attention to less intake of food that will reduce iron absorption.
The following is a summary of 7 points to improve anemia diet and precautions:
Eat more high-speed vegetables
Dark vegetables such as spinach, red amaranth, and sweet potato leaves are not only high in iron, but also folic acid that can help make red blood cells.
Eat more vitamin C
Vitamin C can promote the body’s absorption of iron in plant foods, such as sunflower seeds, black sesame, nuts, hairy vegetables, strawberries, oranges, etc., can double the body’s absorption of iron.
Eat more red meat and lean meat
Liver, pork, beef, clams, duck blood are rich sources of iron, which also contains rich protein, which can help iron absorption.
Avoid iron with coffee and tea
The tannic acid in tea and coffee reduces iron absorption. It is best to avoid drinking tea or coffee during or after meals.
Separate calcium and iron intake time
Because the intake of high amounts of calcium at the same time will inhibit the body’s absorption of iron, you can choose to ingest the time of the two, separated by three meals, you can get enough calcium, not afraid of iron intake is affected.
Moderate vitamin B12 and folic acid supplements
Vitamin B12 and folic acid, are the raw materials that make the body function normally and make blood. Vitamin B12-rich foods such as animal liver, kidney, lean meat, eggs, millet, soybeans, nuts, celery, etc., and folic acid is usually found in green leafy vegetables.
In addition, health foods containing folic acid and B12 can also be used as nutritional supplements. It is recommended to choose vitamin B group + iron, folic acid + iron compound health food as a priority, and the effects are more complementary.
Also remember to choose healthy foods with natural ingredients that are easier to absorb and have patented raw materials, which is more secure and safer to eat.
Conclusion
I think that if there is a symptom of anemia suspected, it is still necessary to seek the diagnosis of a professional doctor. Don’t think that you are just a little tired, not sleeping well, and having a poor mental state. You often ignore the warning signs of your body. Cause irreparable results.