Iron Deficiency Anaemia - Assignment Example

Abstract: Anaemia is a condition which usually occurs when the red blood cells are unable to carry oxygen to the organs and tissues of the body. Anaemia affects all groups of population. However the most vulnerable groups are women who are pregnant and young kids. It is mainly of two types; iron deficiency anaemia and vitamin B12 anaemia. In the mild form, anaemia is usually “silent”, without showing any symptoms. But in more severe forms, anaemia symptoms are fatigue ness, dizziness, drowsiness or weakness. There should be proper medication taken and treatment is there for the patients. Introduction: First of all we should learn some basic facts about blood, as the deficiency of red blood cell in body cause anaemia. Plasma is the fluid which is present in blood; three types of cells are in plasma: White blood cells are the strong cells which protects our body from getting any sort of infection and are part of the body immune’s system. Red blood cells flow in our body through substance and they carry oxygen known as haemoglobin, and Platelets make the clots in the blood. Bone marrow contains both red and white blood cells. There is whole process takes place everyday; million of new cells are produced to replace the old ones that break down. So the bone marrow should be taken care of to keep it healthy, eat nutrients like iron, and certain vitamins; this will keep the constant reproduction and supply of red blood cells in the body. Iron is the key nutrient which will keep the red blood cells to store and carry oxygen to every part of the body. So if there is a lack of oxygen in the body, the organs and tissues will not get sufficient oxygen in the body as they normally do. Now let’s define anaemia, It is a condition which is caused if there are reduced numbers of red blood cells or haemoglobin concentration. Iron deficiency anaemia: There are numerous types of anaemia, and each one is caused by different reason. The most common type is iron deficiency anaemia. This is caused when your body is deficient of iron which is necessary to keep the red blood cells functioning properly. Haemoglobin’s key component is iron, which helps the red blood cells carry and store oxygen. If there is not enough iron present then the red blood cells will carry less oxygen to the different organs and tissues of the body. Blood need to be monitored once in month after the patient is diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia. It is done to check whether the body is responding to the treatment, and some condition rarely may cause serious implications. After your iron level is back to normal the anaemia has to be monitored at home. Only few symptoms of the illness are obvious in people who have iron deficiency anaemia. The symptom’s severity depends on how quickly the anaemia develops. Most common symptoms are Exhaustion, Tiredness, Shortness of breath (dyspnoea), and Palpitations (irregular heart beat). For example, if your anaemia is being caused by a constant (long-term) and slow loss of blood, such as a stomach ulcer then very few symptoms may be noticed, or they may develop gradually. Causes of anaemia Iron deficiency anaemia occurs when the body is suffering from the iron insufficiency. There are several factors which can be a cause for the iron deficiency which are given below. Gastrointestinal blood loss: The gastrointestinal area is responsible for the digestion of food and contains stomach and intestines. If there is a bleeding in these areas, it will cause iron deficiency in both men and women (especially who have a menopause). Following are the causes of gastrointestinal bleeding: If someone is taking high doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs, for a longer period of time. If someone is suffering from Stomach ulcers, the stomach lining can occasionally bleed. If someone has stomach or colon cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding can be caused. During menstruation women face iron deficiency even for those who still have to go through long menopause or menorrhagia (consecutive cycles). Iron deficiency is normal during pregnancy, as the baby need extra iron for development. Normal daily diet of normal person should have enough iron to avoid anaemia. The general physician can easily diagnose the iron deficiency anaemia through a blood test. Haemoglobin test will be necessary to find out the how many red blood cells are present in the blood. Size and number of f cells may be both affected by haemoglobin. Full blood count (FBC) is necessary and the readings should be above 13g/dl for men and 115.g/dl for women; it means 13 or 11.5 grams of haemoglobin per decilitre of blood. Lower reading indicates that you have anaemia which also means that there is a, deficiency of red blood cells. Later other test will give an idea of how to store iron. For the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia there will be the following things which will be done to get your iron level back to normal. 1. Iron supplementation in the form of medicine will be given immediately. 2. Iron rich food will be advised to eat like green vegetables, nuts, meat, beans etc. 3. If taking NSAIDs, doctor will prescribe another medication, they may cause the stomach lining bleed. Monitoring is more important than the treatment, constant check of haemoglobin level in blood need to be reviewed. Deficiency of vitamin B12 or folate: Other types of anaemia can cause by a deficiency of vitamin B12 or folate (folic acid salt) in the body. Vitamin B12 also helps the body to produce red blood cells, it keep the nervous system healthy. Folate which is a folic acid salt works with vitamin B12 which produce red blood cells and it is very important for women who are pregnant, which helps in the growth and development of the baby. Eggs, dairy products and meat contains vitamin B12. Folate best sources are green vegetables like broccoli, peas, chickpeas and brown rice. A vitamin B12 deficiency is not common younger people, but it is most common in those people who are over the age of 75. Folate deficiency is also most general in people above 75 years of age. An anaemic person follows strict vegetarian diets who tend to be more at risk of developing a vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 anaemia has the following general symptoms, which can tell that whether the patient is suffering from it. These symptoms include: fatigue, breathlessness (dyspnoea) dizziness, irregular heart beats (palpitations), headache, Loss of hunger. Usually the body stores enough vitamin B12 that last approximately for 2-4 years. However, it is very important that level of vitamin B12 is maintained in your diet which will ensure that is store of the vitamin is kept at a healthy level. Pernicious anaemia is another name for Vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia. It is an autoimmune disease which affects stomach directly. An autoimmune disease is that when the immune system which fight against infections, start harming the healthy body cells. Stomach starts sending the vitamin B12 to get absorbed into the body. Later when vitamins mix with protein substances it is known as 'intrinsic factor' which can also get absorb in the food which you eat. So the body should produce enough intrinsic factor, which will help absorbing enough vitamin B12. Otherwise, the intrinsic factor will fail to absorb the B12 vitamin and cause pernicious anaemia; which trigger the immune system to attack the cells in this way. Most people who are above 60 years they have pernicious anaemia. This condition is also more affective to women than in men. GP can easily suspects if anyone has vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia, they will require having a blood test that will confirm the diagnosis. 'Full blood count' test will be carried out in the laboratory; if there is a deficiency your vitamin b12 and folate level will be shown considerably low. The treatment for vitamin B12 anaemia is the injections of hydroxocobalamin initially and if it s controlled then you won’t need then otherwise you have to take them every three months for the rest of the life. Folate deficiency is controlled through medicine and used till it is normal again. Monitoring is more important than the treatment, constant check of haemoglobin level in blood need to be reviewed. Destruction of red blood cells are caused by the shear stress and it is more prominent in those who already have red cell disorder known as sickel cell disease. Anaemia can be cause by haemolysis which can impede the transportation of oxygen around the body. Kidney damage is caused by the severe damage of kidneys and not likely giving the comparatively short period deployment of vascular filters1. BIOMEDICAL ENGINNERING TREATMENT Iron deficiency is the mainly the ordinary cause of anaemia. A disturbance in the metabolism of iron, though not exactly the deficiency, features mild to moderate anaemia that usually complicate the cases of many common chronic situations like carcinoma, chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, and even the old contagious diseases like tuberculosis. These numerous and common chronic conditions are anaemia of chronic disease (ACD). In fact, after iron deficiency, chronic disease is the most common cause of anaemia. Both of them share common features; Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and ACD is also difficult to distinct. However, it is imperative, not slightest because iron therapy is essential for those with IDA but has no place in the healing of ACD. The molecular and cellular mechanisms conscientious for ACD staying far from clear, but research has implicated various pro-inflammatory cytokines and their negative effect on red cell production in the bone marrow. Results was found in a recent study case which is given by the Greek researchers which has looked at bone marrow recovered of a patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, provides persuasive proof that the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-a plays a key function in the pathogenesis of ACD. The list of chronic diseases which are complicated by anaemia of chronic disease (ACD) is elongated and dominated by these three big: inflammation, infection and neoplasm. The anaemia which is developed during the first two month of illness and is not progress will get severe. Generally, it is mild to temperate, with haemoglobin (Hb) concentration seldom falling lower than 9.0 g/dL. Severity of the anaemia associates generally with that of the disease; so, for example, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who have mainly severe pain and swelling in joints are more probable to have lesser haemoglobin levels. Similarly, anaemia is more severe with cancer patients with metastatic disease than in those whose tumours stay restricted2. INSTRUMENTATION: Cost effective and optimal quality is to be achieved by an advice and involvement of a certified clinical laboratory. One should not visit normal non-NHS sites for example pharmacies for such tests. The blood test laboratory should be effective and play a key part and to maintain standards for patients. If the aim is to provide safety and efficiency for patients, so also ensures safety of the staff. This can only be possible if there is a close cooperation between the haemaglobin laboratory and the service. There should be a careful draft service level agreement which defines the operational details, also tell what to be done with abnormal results. There are two types of technologies which is supported by POCT (Point of Care and Laboratory), a small bench top analysers and a hand held devices. The bench top systems is usually the smaller version of lab analysers which provide a full blood count (FBC) with red cell index and with a 5-part white cell differential or a partial 3-part differential. The bench top analysers are able to cope with automated calibration and excellence. Though it may be too large to put it at patient’s bedside but they are designed to use it in clinics or small laboratories. Most bench top analysers can generate flags in the occurrence of abnormal cells or interfering matters; however the range of alert flags on this instruments is limited and their sensitivity and specificity may not be as good as those on the main haematology lab analysers. For blood counts, it is strongly suggested that investigator near-patient should only use instrumentation that use primary sampling (automated systems) and do not use instrumentation that involves intensity of whole blood in the pre-analytical stage (semi-automated systems). The most widely used test using a hand held device is the measurement of haemoglobin concentration, but a device, using a disposable cartridge, has recently been introduced that measures haemoglobin, leucocytes and a three-part differential on capillary blood. Conclusion: There are many countries which are working to give more information about anaemia as it is not healthy and severe if found in any patient with chronic disease. There are many reports related to anaemia which I have found during research. REFERENCES: - Sandler.G and Fry.J. Common Diseases: Their Nature, Prevalence and Care. Published by Radcliffe Publishing, 1993.ISBN 0792388038, 9780792388036. - Mackie.J, Rhind.J el at. 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Published by Lippincott, 1918. Original from the University of California Read More