Health

Anemia is caused when the level of red blood cells and hemoglobin decreases in the body. Though, anemia is not treated as a fatal condition in the initial stages but, if ignored for a prolonged period it may lead to many health complications.

Dr. Lawrence Goodnough, the director of transfusion services at the Stanford University Medical Center and was president of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, a group that promotes better anemia control. He says that anemia is a serious medical condition, especially for people who suffer fatigue from chronic diseases. Here are the five things he believes everyone should know about managing the most common blood disorder.

 1. Recognize the symptoms. Headaches, dizziness, difficulty thinking and fatigue are the hallmarks of anemia. If these symptoms persist, see a doctor for a blood test. Having a low level of hemoglobin — the oxygen-carrying part of blood — can help determine if you suffer from anemia.

2. Take anemia seriously. Everyone experiences fatigue from time to time, but anemia can sap your energy for long periods and keep you from doing the things you like. The symptoms may indicate an underlying bleeding problem that needs to be taken care of. Treatment for nutritional anemias can be as simple as getting more iron, vitamin B12 or folate, which are plentiful in most diets. More serious anemic conditions, like those caused by chronic diseases, may require special drugs or blood transfusions.

3. Get a blood test before surgery. Doctors will test your hemoglobin levels a day or two before surgery because low levels could raise the risk of bleeding complications. But Dr. Goodnough says he has made it his cause to push for testing at least a month in advance of elective surgery, so that any problems can be treated well ahead of time and not cause you to cancel your procedure.

4. Anemia is more common with aging. At least 8 percent of those over 65 suffer from anemia. This figure rises to 25 percent when people reach 75, a growing issue now that Americans are living longer. As many as half of anemia cases in the elderly are caused by either poor diet or kidney disease, both treatable conditions.

5. Chronic illness makes anemia more difficult to manage. Patients with cancer or kidney disorders face perhaps the hardest time, because both disease and treatment can make anemia worse. Women with cancer might suffer from three separate causes of fatigue, including the cancer, chemotherapy and blood loss from menstruating.

Some Home Remedies to treat Anemia:

• Beetroot is one of the most important food item to cure anemia. Its juice is rich in minerals like sulphur, iron, calcium and iodine. It also contains surplus carbohydrates and proteins that are needed in body. It is also very helpful in substituting various vitamins like thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), ascorbic acid (vitamin C) etc.

• Take a ripe banana and eat it with a tablespoon of honey. Eat a banana like this two times in a day.

• Eat spinach as much as you can as it contains loads of iron and folic acid.

• Increase the intake of Iron and vitamin rich foods. High vitamin foods include eggs, fishes, meats and all milk products such as cheese, curd and milk. The natural sources of vitamin c such as oranges, grapes, green leafy vegetables, gooseberry, capsicum and tomatoes should also be taken in good amount. Green leafy vegetables, apples, pastas, raisins, brown rice etc are some of the examples for Iron rich food.

• Try to cook your food in iron pots; it is proven that by doing so you can significantly increases the amount of iron in your foods. ** [rs]