Constantly feeling sluggish or like you could do with a burst of energy? Or maybe you risk feeling faint or breathless at a moment’s notice? There’s a strong chance you could be anaemic.
Anaemia is a condition where you have fewer red blood cells than normal, or you have less haemoglobin than normal in each red blood cell. This means that the body’s tissues and organs are not getting enough oxygen.
So what symptoms should you look out for with anaemia?
If you feel like you could be anaemic, there are a host of common symptoms to watch out for. These include:
- Fatigue, tiredness, lethargy
- Breathing difficulties on exercise
- Dizziness
- Palpitations
- Angina (chest tightness on exercise)
- Leg pains
- Pale complexion.
As there may be another underlying issues causing anaemia, other symptoms may develop. These can include:
- Unusual cravings for specific foods
- Painful cracks at the corners of the mouth
- Difficulty swallowing
- Brittle and spoon shaped nails
- Loss of sense of touch, ‘pins and needles’ sensation
- Jaundice (a yellow colouring of the skin)
- Abdominal pain
- Spontaneous bleeding under the skin or from the gums, nose, vagina or anus
- Black stools, or blood present when passing bowel movements
If you feel like you may suffer from any of these symptoms, book an appointment with your doctor to talk through your symptoms.
What causes the condition?
Anaemia tends to be most commonly found with people who eat a low-iron rich diet, but there are a number of factors that can cause anaemia.
The following reasons may result in a lack of iron in the diet, which can lead to the onset of anaemia:
- Pregnancy or childhood growth spurts – are times when your body may need more iron than usual. The amount of iron that you eat during these times may not be enough and may require some additional iron supplements to keep up with the demand.
- Heavy menstrual periods – Women who suffer from heavy periods and blood loss may not be eating enough iron-rich foods to replace the iron lost during menstruation.
- Poor absorption – Some bodies may have poor iron absorption. This can occur with some gut diseases – for example, coeliac disease and Crohn’s disease.
- If you eat a poor or restricted diet – A poorly-balanced diet may not contain enough iron and minerals to match the body’s needs. Iron can be found in red meat, tinned fish and dark leafy green vegetables. It may also be necessary depending on diet choices to supplement your meals with an iron supplement.
- Lack of vitamin – For those suffering with a lack of vitamin B12, anaemia can be a common side effect.
Anaemia is also associated as a secondary condition to some more serious illnesses that your doctor may be currently treating you for, such as rheumatoid arthritis, kidney disease or leukaemia.
How can you treat anaemia?
A simply blood test can measure the amount of haemoglobin in your blood and count the number of red blood cells per millilitre (ml). Although this test can confirm that you are anaemic, it will not outline the cause of you anaemia.
If you are anaemic as a result of some of the more common issues as outlined above, your doctor will be able to treat you as required.
However, if the cause is not clear, some further tests may be required to establish and cause and to decide on the best case of treatment to undertake.
As with any health queries, if you notice persisting symptoms or are concerned about your personal health, be sure to book an appointment to talk to your doctor.
