Anemia
hideAnemia (pronounced /əˈniːmiə/, also spelled anaemia or anæmia; from Ancient Greek ἀναιμία anaimia, meaning "lack of blood") is a decrease in normal number of red blood cells (RBCs) or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin deficiency.
Since hemoglobin (found inside RBCs) normally carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, anemia leads to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in organs. Since all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia can have a wide range of clinical consequences.
The three main classes of anemia include excessive blood loss (acutely such as a hemorrhage or chronically through low-volume loss), excessive blood cell destruction (hemolysis) or deficient red blood cell production (ineffective hematopoiesis).
Anemia is the most common disorder of the blood. There are several kinds of anemia, produced by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a variety of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs, underlying etiologic mechanisms, and discernible clinical spectra, to mention a few.
There are two major approaches: the "kinetic" approach which involves evaluating production, destruction and loss, and the "morphologic" approach which groups anemia by red blood cell size. The morphologic approach uses a quickly available and cheap lab test as its starting point (the MCV). On the other hand, focusing early on the question of production may allow the clinician more rapidly to expose cases where multiple causes of anemia coexist.
For more information about Anemia, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with anemia
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Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On average, our cells encounter a very lethal form of DNA damage 10 times a day. Lucky for us, we have the capacity to repair each and every one of them. New research now reveals exactly how two well-known ...
Let them eat snail
Nov 19, 2009 |
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A nutritionist in Nigeria says that malnutrition and iron deficiency in schoolchildren could be reduced in her country by baking up snail pie. In a research paper to be published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nu ...
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Article Traces History of Darwinian Medicine
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Despite being a founding principle of modern biology for 150 years, evolutionary theory has played a limited role in the field of medicine. Only in the last 20 years has Darwinian medicine emerged as a discipline ...
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Dec 09, 2009 |
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Peliosis hepatis (PH) is a rare pathological entity. PH varies from minimal asymptomatic lesions to larger massive lesions that may present with cholestasis, liver failure, portal hypertension, avascular mass lesion, or even ...
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Dec 07, 2009 |
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Infection with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, causes more life-threatening complications than seasonal flu in children with sickle cell disease, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The findings, to ...
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Results from a phase II clinical trial indicate a novel drug may provide a treatment option for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients who do not respond to current therapies, researchers from The University of Texas M. ...
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Dec 07, 2009 |
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A first-in-its class oral medication provides significant and durable relief for patients with a rare, debilitating and lethal bone marrow disorder called myelofibrosis, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson ...
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NEW ORLEANS ― The second-generation proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib is showing noteworthy response rates and low levels of adverse side effects among multiple myeloma patients in a phase II clinical trial, researchers ...
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Dec 01, 2009 |
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Controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in developing countries would help improve the reproductive health and rights of girls and women in the poorest countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, according ...
Scientists report first effective medical therapy for rare stomach disorder
Nov 25, 2009 |
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A drug used to treat colorectal cancer also can reverse a rare stomach disorder and should be considered first-line therapy for the disease, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center report this week.
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Nov 23, 2009 |
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When people have malaria, they are infected with Plasmodium parasites, which enter the body from the saliva of a mosquito, infect cells in the liver, and then spread to red blood cells. Inside the blood cells, the parasites ...
Kill the cancer, not the patient: New toxicity testing approach could make chemo drugs safer
Nov 18, 2009 |
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For cancer patients on chemotherapy, the "cure" can be as deadly as the disease itself. Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading causes of death among patients receiving cancer treatment.
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