How do you treat anemia?
How do you treat anemia?
DEAR DOCTOR:
My teenage daughter recently learned that she has iron deficiency and anemia. Why would her iron be low? What is the treatment?
DEAR READER:
Anemia means that the blood does not have enough red blood cells. These cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. There are many kinds of anemia. In the United States, iron-deficiency anemia is the most common; it occurs when the body does not have enough iron to make red blood cells.
What’s the connection between iron and red blood cells? Inside every red blood cell is the protein called hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to every cell in your body. Oxygen is an essential source of energy to every cell.
Iron is a part of hemoglobin. Most of the iron in the body is in the hemoglobin (and a similar protein in muscle called myoglobin).
Iron enters our body in food and leaves the body primarily when we bleed. Bleeding causes the loss of red blood cells and a lot of iron. That’s why teenage girls are particularly susceptible to iron-deficiency anemia: They have begun to have monthly menstrual bleeding. Each month they lose blood and iron. If your daughter doesn’t eat enough iron-rich foods, she will gradually develop iron deficiency.
Symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia are not usually obvious unless the problem is severe or long-lasting. If that’s the case, symptoms may include pale skin, tiredness, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches or ringing in the ears. The condition is diagnosed with a blood test.
Iron-deficiency anemia is usually treated with iron supplements, taken by mouth for several months. The doctor will do follow-up blood tests to make sure the anemia has gone away or at least is improving.
Iron is best absorbed when given between meals. Encourage your daughter to take her iron supplement mid-morning, between breakfast and lunch, or mid-afternoon, between lunch and dinner.
Vitamin C makes it easier for the body to absorb iron. But calcium makes it harder, so your daughter should not take her supplement with milk. It may work best taken with foods or drinks that are high in vitamin C such as fruits, vegetables and orange juice.
Warn your daughter not to take more than the recommended dose of iron, as higher doses can be dangerous. Some people are vulnerable to developing iron overload.
You should also try to increase the amount of iron-rich foods in your daughter’s diet. These include:
• lean meats, poultry and fish
• iron-fortified cereals, breads and pasta
• dried fruits (apricots, raisins, prunes)
• leafy green vegetables (spinach, collard greens, kale)
• whole grains (brown rice, wheat germ, bran muffins)
• beans, peas and nuts
• eggs
Teenage girls who have begun to have menstrual periods can help prevent iron-deficiency anemia by taking a multivitamin with iron. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iron is 8 milligrams (mg) per day for females ages 9 to 13 years, and 15 mg per day for females ages 14 to 18 years.
Iron deficiency in teenage girls is common, easily diagnosed and easily treated. Your daughter should be fine. more
DEAR DOCTOR:
My teenage daughter recently learned that she has iron deficiency and anemia. Why would her iron be low? What is the treatment?
DEAR READER:
Anemia means that the blood does not have enough red blood cells. These cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. There are many kinds of anemia. In the United States, iron-deficiency anemia is the most common; it occurs when the body does not have enough iron to make red blood cells.
What’s the connection between iron and red blood cells? Inside every red blood cell is the protein called hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to every cell in your body. Oxygen is an essential source of energy to every cell.
Iron is a part of hemoglobin. Most of the iron in the body is in the hemoglobin (and a similar protein in muscle called myoglobin).
Iron enters our body in food and leaves the body primarily when we bleed. Bleeding causes the loss of red blood cells and a lot of iron. That’s why teenage girls are particularly susceptible to iron-deficiency anemia: They have begun to have monthly menstrual bleeding. Each month they lose blood and iron. If your daughter doesn’t eat enough iron-rich foods, she will gradually develop iron deficiency.
Symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia are not usually obvious unless the problem is severe or long-lasting. If that’s the case, symptoms may include pale skin, tiredness, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches or ringing in the ears. The condition is diagnosed with a blood test.
Iron-deficiency anemia is usually treated with iron supplements, taken by mouth for several months. The doctor will do follow-up blood tests to make sure the anemia has gone away or at least is improving.
Iron is best absorbed when given between meals. Encourage your daughter to take her iron supplement mid-morning, between breakfast and lunch, or mid-afternoon, between lunch and dinner.
Vitamin C makes it easier for the body to absorb iron. But calcium makes it harder, so your daughter should not take her supplement with milk. It may work best taken with foods or drinks that are high in vitamin C such as fruits, vegetables and orange juice.
Warn your daughter not to take more than the recommended dose of iron, as higher doses can be dangerous. Some people are vulnerable to developing iron overload.
You should also try to increase the amount of iron-rich foods in your daughter’s diet. These include:
• lean meats, poultry and fish
• iron-fortified cereals, breads and pasta
• dried fruits (apricots, raisins, prunes)
• leafy green vegetables (spinach, collard greens, kale)
• whole grains (brown rice, wheat germ, bran muffins)
• beans, peas and nuts
• eggs
Teenage girls who have begun to have menstrual periods can help prevent iron-deficiency anemia by taking a multivitamin with iron. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for iron is 8 milligrams (mg) per day for females ages 9 to 13 years, and 15 mg per day for females ages 14 to 18 years.
Iron deficiency in teenage girls is common, easily diagnosed and easily treated. Your daughter should be fine. more
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what about papaya? People believe that papaya is not good for women and girls during menstruation? more
Dec 16
Low Hb ,if not due to any infection in the body, can be easily treated with Bio-Chemical formula No. 1 which suits children in most of the cases. The dosages should be given as per age described on the medicine bottle. This may be tried for a couple of months. This should be given half an hour of each meals (Thrice or four times a day). I am sure there will be recovery from low Hb. more
Dec 13
Vitamin D supplements should be taken by people who are mainly indoors and have joint pains . The real need for testing is debatable as Akhil pointed out. more
Dec 12
Vitamin D is a commercial scam!! Please see below:- Too Much Vitamin D from a Tanning Bed? By Kelly Young Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and André Sofair, MD, MPH Clinicians should consider tanning bed use when evaluating patients with excessively high vitamin D levels, suggests a case report in theAnnals of Internal Medicine. A 26-year-old white woman was referred to an endocrinology clinic because her serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was above 339 nmol/L (the reference range is 75-185 nmol/L). She said she had minimal sun exposure and did not take supplements or consume inordinate amounts of dairy products. She did, however, report using a tanning bed at least 3 times a week for the past 6 months. One month after being advised to stop tanning, her 25-(OH)D level had dropped to 182 nmol/L. Apparent Vitamin D Deficiencies in Blacks: Protein Variant at Fault? By Joe Elia The apparently high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among blacks may be an artifact of what form is measured clinically, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study. Among a sample of some 2100 blacks and whites, mean levels both of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D and of vitamin D-binding protein were lower among blacks. Yet blacks had higher bone mineral densities than whites and similar levels of bioavailable vitamin D. The explanation may lie with variation in a gene associated with vitamin D-binding protein. The variant more prevalent among blacks is associated with lower levels of the binding protein. (Whites with the variant protein also showed lower binding levels.) The authors conclude that low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D don't necessarily indicate a deficiency. Their results, they say, "call into question routine supplementation in persons with low levels of both total 25-hydroxyvitamin D and vitamin D-binding protein." They recommend that "to improve the determination of vitamin D status in diverse populations, [measuring the binding protein] will most likely need to be incorporated." Too Much Vitamin D from a Tanning Bed? By Kelly Young Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and André Sofair, MD, MPH Clinicians should consider tanning bed use when evaluating patients with excessively high vitamin D levels, suggests a case report in theAnnals of Internal Medicine. A 26-year-old white woman was referred to an endocrinology clinic because her serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was above 339 nmol/L (the reference range is 75-185 nmol/L). She said she had minimal sun exposure and did not take supplements or consume inordinate amounts of dairy products. She did, however, report using a tanning bed at least 3 times a week for the past 6 months. One month after being advised to stop tanning, her 25-(OH)D level had dropped to 182 nmol/L. more
Dec 12
