Blood consists of both a liquid called plasma and cells. Floating within the plasma are three types of blood cells:
1.White blood cells.
These blood cells fight infection.
2.Platelets.
These blood cells help your blood clot after a cut.
3.Red blood cells (erythrocytes).
These blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs, via your bloodstream, to your brain and the other organs and tissues. Your body needs a supply of oxygenated blood to function. Oxygenated blood helps give your body its energy and your skin a healthy glow.
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin — a red, iron-rich protein that gives blood its red color. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body, and to carry carbon dioxide from other parts of the body to the lungs so that it can be exhaled.
Most blood cells, including red blood cells, are produced regularly in your bone marrow — a red, spongy material found within the cavities of many of your large bones. To produce hemoglobin and red blood cells, your body needs iron, protein and vitamins from the foods you eat.
Anemia is a state in which the number of red blood cells or the hemoglobin in them is below normal. When you're anemic, your body produces too few healthy red blood cells, loses too many of them or destroys them faster than they can be replaced. As a result, your blood is low on red blood cells to carry oxygen to your tissues — leaving you fatigued. Common types of anemia and their causes include:
Iron deficiency anemia. This most common form of anemia affects about one in five women, half of pregnant women and 3 percent of men in the United States. The cause is a shortage of the element iron in your body. Your bone marrow needs iron to make hemoglobin. Without adequate iron, your body can't produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells. The result is iron deficiency anemia.
One way your body gets needed iron is when blood cells die — the iron in them is recycled and used to produce new blood cells. So, if you lose blood, you lose iron. Women with heavy periods who lose a lot of blood each month during menstruation are at risk of iron deficiency anemia. Slow, chronic blood loss from a source within the body — such as an ulcer, a colon polyp or even colon cancer — also can lead to iron loss and iron deficiency anemia.
Your body also gets iron from the foods you eat. An iron-poor diet can lead to this anemia. In pregnant women, a growing fetus can deplete the mother's store of iron, leading to iron deficiency anemia.
Vitamin deficiency anemias. In addition to iron, your body needs folate and vitamin B-12 to produce sufficient numbers of healthy red blood cells. A diet lacking in these and other key nutrients can cause decreased red blood cell production. People who have an intestinal disorder that affects the absorption of nutrients are prone to this type of anemia. Some people are unable to absorb vitamin B-12 for a variety of reasons and develop vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia, which is sometimes called pernicious anemia. Vitamin deficiency anemias fall into a group of anemias called megaloblastic anemias, in which the bone marrow produces large, abnormal red blood cells.
Anemia of chronic disease.
Certain chronic diseases — such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases — can interfere with the production of red blood cells, resulting in chronic anemia. Kidney failure also can be a cause of anemia. The kidneys produce a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates your bone marrow to produce red blood cells. A shortage of erythropoietin, which can result from kidney failure or be a side effect of chemotherapy, can result in a shortage of red blood cells.
anemia by affecting blood production in the bone marrow. The effects of these types of cancer and cancer-like disorders vary from a mild alteration in blood production to a complete, life-threatening shutdown of the blood-making process. Additionally, other cancers of the blood or bone marrow, such as multiple myeloma, myeloprolifera
1.White blood cells.
These blood cells fight infection.
2.Platelets.
These blood cells help your blood clot after a cut.
3.Red blood cells (erythrocytes).
These blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs, via your bloodstream, to your brain and the other organs and tissues. Your body needs a supply of oxygenated blood to function. Oxygenated blood helps give your body its energy and your skin a healthy glow.
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin — a red, iron-rich protein that gives blood its red color. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body, and to carry carbon dioxide from other parts of the body to the lungs so that it can be exhaled.
Most blood cells, including red blood cells, are produced regularly in your bone marrow — a red, spongy material found within the cavities of many of your large bones. To produce hemoglobin and red blood cells, your body needs iron, protein and vitamins from the foods you eat.
Anemia is a state in which the number of red blood cells or the hemoglobin in them is below normal. When you're anemic, your body produces too few healthy red blood cells, loses too many of them or destroys them faster than they can be replaced. As a result, your blood is low on red blood cells to carry oxygen to your tissues — leaving you fatigued. Common types of anemia and their causes include:
Iron deficiency anemia. This most common form of anemia affects about one in five women, half of pregnant women and 3 percent of men in the United States. The cause is a shortage of the element iron in your body. Your bone marrow needs iron to make hemoglobin. Without adequate iron, your body can't produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells. The result is iron deficiency anemia.
One way your body gets needed iron is when blood cells die — the iron in them is recycled and used to produce new blood cells. So, if you lose blood, you lose iron. Women with heavy periods who lose a lot of blood each month during menstruation are at risk of iron deficiency anemia. Slow, chronic blood loss from a source within the body — such as an ulcer, a colon polyp or even colon cancer — also can lead to iron loss and iron deficiency anemia.
Your body also gets iron from the foods you eat. An iron-poor diet can lead to this anemia. In pregnant women, a growing fetus can deplete the mother's store of iron, leading to iron deficiency anemia.
Vitamin deficiency anemias. In addition to iron, your body needs folate and vitamin B-12 to produce sufficient numbers of healthy red blood cells. A diet lacking in these and other key nutrients can cause decreased red blood cell production. People who have an intestinal disorder that affects the absorption of nutrients are prone to this type of anemia. Some people are unable to absorb vitamin B-12 for a variety of reasons and develop vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia, which is sometimes called pernicious anemia. Vitamin deficiency anemias fall into a group of anemias called megaloblastic anemias, in which the bone marrow produces large, abnormal red blood cells.
Anemia of chronic disease.
Certain chronic diseases — such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases — can interfere with the production of red blood cells, resulting in chronic anemia. Kidney failure also can be a cause of anemia. The kidneys produce a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates your bone marrow to produce red blood cells. A shortage of erythropoietin, which can result from kidney failure or be a side effect of chemotherapy, can result in a shortage of red blood cells.
anemia by affecting blood production in the bone marrow. The effects of these types of cancer and cancer-like disorders vary from a mild alteration in blood production to a complete, life-threatening shutdown of the blood-making process. Additionally, other cancers of the blood or bone marrow, such as multiple myeloma, myeloprolifera