}

Anemia: “weak” blood

1997/12/01 Agirre, Jabier - Medikua eta OEEko kidea Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

Having mild anemia is quite normal, and many of us (not to say almost all) would have had such a problem. The issue is worse when there are no ways to solve this problem and the initial “fragility” becomes a serious problem. The most important risk groups are children, pregnant women and the elderly with strict and inadequate feeding measures.

What is anemia?

The word anemia comes from the Greek and in the strict sense means “lack of blood”, but at present the disease (or special situation) is defined according to other parameters: the decrease of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin (that is, of the protein that carries oxygen to all tissues of the body) is, as it is believed, the true reason for anemia.

Anemia is usually spoken of as one, but the truth is that there are many different types, and each of those types of anemia is due to different causes. According to Dr. José Luis Navarro, Head of the Hematology Service at the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid, “anemia can be classified from different points of view, either by creative causes, or by the morphology of the resulting blood, but not of a type (aplastic anemia, hemolytic, ferropénica, etc.) and not others (macrocytic anemia, microcytic, normocytic, etc.) are not a disease itself, but a reflection of another disease or cause.”

The human body is an almost perfect machine, so it is able to synthesize substances essential for life. In other cases, however, we are ourselves, especially through food, who have to give those substances to the body to keep functioning properly. It is often widely considered that “getting up from the table well saturated (full gut or perhaps too full) is synonymous with being well fed and unfortunately is not the same. It can happen that some essential ingredient is missing in our diet and that scarcity can be the cause of anemia.

Various kinds of anemia

Juices in favor

To get more folic acid:

shred two cabbage leaves, a handful of parsley and some spinach and then beat in the blender with four or five carrots.

To have more iron:

three crushed beet leaves and go through the blender along with four or five carrots. Once beaten, add half green pepper and half an apple without seeds.

Causes that can produce anemia can be very different.

  • When the body lacks enough vitamin B12 to absorb, a situation called pernicious anemia (chronic, progressive, and severe disease, which can lead to death) occurs.
  • In other cases folic acid is lacking, and in these cases anemia is very common in pregnant women, since the need for folic acid is very high for fetal development to be performed correctly. In this case, as in the previous one, the early application of treatment does not pose any complications.
  • There is another type of anemia that may appear as a result of hereditary diseases. In these cases, red blood cells have abnormal hemoglobin (hemoglobin F or intense blasphemy, Cooley anemia, etc. ). ).
  • Hemolytic anemia occurs when they are destroyed at a rate higher than red blood cells. This situation may be due to growth failures, toxins, medicines or medicines, infections, etc.
  • Iron deficiency anemia. Thus we call anemia due to lack of iron by doctors, and of this kind is the most frequent anemia in today's society. The ultimate cause is that hemoglobin (or failing oxygen carriers of red blood cells) does not have enough iron. Almost everyone has iron reserves in the spinal cord, liver, and spleen, but there may not be enough iron or even no iron. If with the measure of food we get enough there is no problem, but if the size of the food is little iron will appear anemia.

How to Respond to Symptoms

The most common symptoms of anemia are generally weakness and fatigue, loss of consciousness or dizziness, paleness, shortness of breath, and palpitations (or rapid heartbeat). In addition, people complain about the difficulty of concentrating, have headaches often, and hair or cracks may appear in the coma of the lips and nails, as well as fragile hairs.

In our diet we should not forget at all some foods if we want to avoid anemia. For example, liver, beef, whole-wheat bread, eggs, apricots or eggplant, hake, and cod are very rich in iron. Citrus fruits, such as orange and kiwi, and fresh vegetables are well suited to better assimilate iron by their vitamin C.

Children, milk and anemia

Most pediatricians recommend that mothers provide their children with enriched (iron-enriched) milk until just over a year ago. And why? Because children who take cow's milk in their first year will resist anemia much more easily than those who take formula, since cow's milk hinders the absorption of iron.

In the case of anemia caused by the lack of folic acid, it is recommended to consume legumes, wheat germ, dandruff, asparagus, lentils, nuts, spinach and cabbage.

Vitamin B12 is found in clams, oysters and sardines, egg white, trout, salmon and meat muscle.

However, above the aforementioned dietary recommendations, the first thing to do is go to the doctor to identify the cause of anemia and establish an appropriate treatment. Taking vitamins (often blind) can also be counterproductive, as it can somehow cover the causal disease of anemia and over time the problem can be worse.

Who are the most prone?

Some people or age groups are at higher risk for anemia. These are:

  • Children and adolescents. They are growing and need more iron. On the other hand, often their food size does not compensate for the iron they spend daily and in the long run that imbalance will cause anemia.
  • Pregnant women. More folic acid and iron are needed during pregnancy.
  • Older people who, due to any of their ailments, have a reduced diet.
  • People to whom the gastric fragment has been removed. In these cases, although iron is sufficient, the digestive system is not able to absorb it.
  • Women with high monthly rates. Large blood losses can drain iron reserves for months or years. Some estimates suggest that around the world, iron anemic women in their red blood cells can reach over 1 billion. What happens is that the woman adapts or adapts better than the man to this type of anemia, and although many have a small lack or shortage of iron, it happens almost unnoticed until the routine analysis reveals that anemia.
  • For another reason (ulcers, hemorrhoids, etc. ). ), people who often suffer bleeding, although these blood losses are not very significant.
  • Chronic kidney failure or rheumatoid arthritis, like other diseases, make it impossible to properly use body iron reserves, so the risk of anemia is higher.
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