Anemia is a problem that concerns the blood cells. Usually, this happens when the count of red blood cells in your body is lower than normal. Having not enough hemoglobin in your red blood cells can also lead to anemia. Hemoglobin is the one responsible for giving the blood its color and it is considered an iron-rich protein. It helps the red blood cells in carrying oxygen and removing carbon dioxide in the body. Some types of anemia are also because of low white blood cells and platelets count. Anemia can be very mild and short term, which can be treated easily. But some conditions are excessively severe that it lasts for a very long time. And for some cases, anemia can even cause death. There are various kinds of anemia with particular symptoms and causes, such as blood loss anemia, hemolytic anemia, iron deficiency anemia, and many more. Considering that anemia results to lack of oxygen in the body, the most common symptom is fatigue. Other signs are headache, shortness of breath, dizziness, pale skin, chest pain, etc. To know more about the sickness, below are the three main causes of anemia.
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One of the most common causes of anemia is the loss of huge amount of blood. This is especially related to iron deficiency anemia. This happens because losing blood can mean losing a lot of red blood cells as well, which then results to anemia. One can lose blood through surgery, cancer, heavy menstrual periods, trauma, and digestive or urinary tract bleeding.
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Another condition that can lead to anemia is the destruction of too many red blood cells in the body. Such can be possibly inherited like thalassemias, sickle cell anemia, and deficiency in some enzymes. These sicknesses can produce unhealthy red blood cells causing them to die faster than normal. Hemolytic anemia, which also damages huge numbers of red blood cells, can either be acquired or inherited as well. Another example of too much red blood cells destruction is poor or unhealthy spleen. The spleen is responsible for eliminating used up red blood cells. It is possible for it to get rid of too much red blood cells when the spleen is not working properly.
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Lastly, inefficient production of red blood cells can also cause anemia. There are many factors that contribute to such condition such as diet, pregnancy, chronic diseases, medications, hormones, and aplastic anemia.
