Anemia In Woman

by Sathya
(Chennai)

I am 32 yrs old. I had anemia & getting treated for that. My hemoglobin count increased from 9 (before treatment) & increased to 11.3 now. And at present I am feeling some light pain in my left hand & chest area. But after consulting my physician he explained that the slight pain in my arm is due to the low oxygen count in blood. He has suggested some medicines & also mentioned about having a pacemaker. Now I have got engaged & planning to get married kindly explain to me how to increase the oxygen count naturally & will I prone to heart attack.

All About Anemia In Women

Anemia is a reduction in the number of blood cells circulating in the body. The blood cells main job is to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues and to do this it has an oxygen carrying moiety called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is therefore a very important of the red blood cell. Hemoglobin production requires iron, a major constituent of the red blood cell and if your iron levels are low, you can become anemic. Low iron levels can occur for many different reasons, but in menstruating women the most common cause is blood loss through your monthly period loss. However, any cause of blood loss can result in iron deficiency and anemia. Bleeding from the gut is the second most common cause of iron deficiency anemia or poor iron absorption from the gut from such conditions as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Rarely in women of your age would it be related to blood loss from tumours. The other area of the body that you can loose blood is the kidney tract. Lack of iron in the diet (meat being the main source of iron) can occasionally result in anemia.

Anemia is not always related to iron deficiency. Blood production requires other constituents such as folic acid and vitamin B12. Deficiency in these can also result in anemia. Chronic medical conditions can also cause a chronic cause of anemia too as well as specific blood disorders such as leukaemia.

Anemia Symptoms

Anemia causes many different symptoms. The most common symptom is tiredness and is a common presentation to the doctor. Breathlessness can occur due to poor oxygen carriage, headaches, dizziness and pains in the body can occur. If profound, anemia can cause angina and can even result in a heart attack. If the sufferer has underlying heart disease, the degree of anemia causing symptoms can be much less to cause symptoms. From your description, your doctor must think that you are getting angina pain with the pain in your arm. However, your anemia is not profound and your anemia is resolving. Also it is unusual, although not exclusive, that a 32 year old should have significant underlying coronary heart disease unless there is a strong family history or risk factors such as high cholesterol levels, diabetes and smoking.

How Can You Improve Your Anemia?

It really depends on the underlying cause. If this is due to menstrual loss, the important thing is to maintain a well balanced diet and ensure that you take in plenty of iron containing foods such as meats and green vegetables. Also, if periods are heavy, hormone manipulation and the use of the mirena coil can be considered.

If the anemia is not iron deficiency, but due to B12 and folic acid deficiency, supplementation with these can help. Ultimately, improving anemia is achieved by treating the underlying cause.




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