Anemia

Circulatory System

A condition in which there is a reduction of the number of red blood cells or of the total amount of haemoglobin in the blood stream, or both.

The spleen, as a recycler of iron, is important in the manufacture of haemoglobin. Iron is an essential ingredient of the haemoglobin protein.

Iron-deficiency anemia – if you do not have enough iron in your body, your body cannot make enough haemoglobin. Normally, extra iron is stored in your body and then used to produce haemoglobin in newly developed red blood cells. Most of this iron is recovered as old red blood cells are destroyed. The small amount of iron lost from the body is replaced by iron absorbed from your diet.

B12 deficiency anemia and folic acid anemia - red blood cell production takes place in the bone marrow, and depends substantially on two vitamins: B12 and folic acid. If you do not have enough of either vitamin, red blood cell production fails. Also, those red blood cells that are formed are defective, resulting in one of these forms of anemia.

Your body normally absorbs B12 from the lower small intestine. Before this occurs, the vitamin must combine in the stomach with a substance known as intrinsic factor, which is secreted by the stomach lining. In some people, the stomach lining stops secreting enough intrinsic factor. Without it, sufficient amounts of B12 cannot be absorbed. This is the most common type of B12 deficiency, and it is called pernicious anemia.

If you have had some forms of digestive tract surgery, your body’s ability to absorb B12 may be reduced, sometimes to the point where it cannot absorb any of the vitamin. B12 deficiency is very serious because B12 is vital to the maintenance of the nervous system as well as the production of red blood cells. B12 deficiency can cause damage to the brain and spinal cord.

Folic acid deficiency is usually due to poor diet habits. Adequate amounts of folic acid can be obtained by eating green vegetables. Your body cannot build large reserves, so any deficiency shows up within a few weeks.