Pregnancy places major demands on the body, because the mother must meet the needs of both her body and her growing baby. The body needs enough iron and folate to make the right amount of red blood cells. To prevent anemia during pregnancy, the expectant mother should stay in close contact with her doctor, and be sure to eat a diet that includes foods rich in iron and folate, like liver and dark green leafy vegetables.

There are a number of different types of anemia and the symptoms will vary by type. In general, potential causes include a number of disease such as heart disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and cancer; inflammatory disease like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel syndrome; and a number of other conditions such as excessive blood loss, nutritional deficiencies, adverse reactions to certain medications, chemotherapy, and certain problems affecting bone marrow.

Aplastic Anemia may be caused by injury to the bone marrow by radiation, chemicals, various medications, viruses, immune diseases, pregnancy, insecticides and pesticides. It is important to realize that bone marrow failure is a very rare response to a wide variety of possible causative factors to which we are all commonly exposed. In most cases of Aplastic Anemia, we do not find any link with environmental factors.

Anemia results when there is not enough iron in the blood to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Baby and toddlers, pregnant and menstruating women, and people who have lost blood need more iron.

The symptoms of anemia can include headache, fatigue, weakness, difficulty in thinking. With severe anemia, other symptoms, such as shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat, may be experienced.

Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia usually develops when your body cannot absorb this vitamin from food. This can happen if:1, 2 You have pernicious anemia. In pernicious anemia, your body destroys the cells in your stomach needed to help your body absorb vitamin B12. You have had surgery to remove part of your stomach or the last section of your small intestine (ileum ).

Anemia, an abnormally low level of red blood cells, is a common complication of cancer and treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Both cancer and its treatment can interfere with the supply of red blood cells - by inhibiting the production of bone marrow, or as a result of chronic blood loss during surgery. Although it is seldom life-threatening, cancer-related anemia can cause overwhelming fatigue, and may have a severe impact on quality of life.

Having an increased need for folic acid, as might happen with pregnancy or certain medical conditions, such as sickle cell disease. Not absorbing or retaining folic acid. If you drink too much alcohol or have severe kidney problems that require blood-cleaning procedures, your body might not absorb folic acid.

The root cause of anemia is generally deficiency of iron in the diet. However, there are many other ways in which loss of blood can take place from the body. The following are some of them:- People with hemorrhoids (i.e. piles) often lose great amounts of blood if there are open sores. If the loss is beyond acceptable limit, then the person would suffer from anemia. Hemolysis is a condition in which a breakdown of the red blood corpuscles takes place.

A healthy diet, rich in iron, must be consumed. Whole grain cereals, legumes and pulses are good sources of iron. Nuts and dry dates also contain iron. Among the meats, organs such as kidney and liver contain iron in them. Anemia that is caused due to deficiency of vitamins can be avoided by a proper intake of vitamins in the diet. The food must be properly balanced and contain the proper amount of nutrients. Consult a diet chart for better guidance.

children going through a rapid growth spurt, during which the iron available cannot keep up with the demands for a growing red cell mass women in childbearing years who have an excessive need for iron because of blood loss during menstruation People with ongoing gastrointestinal blood loss are at risk of developing iron deficiency, as are individuals with leukemia or cancer who must receive chemotherapy or radiation to treat their disease.

Yes, some types of anemia are due to inherited or genetic defects. Sickle cell anemia occurs most frequently in people of African, African-American, and Mediterranean descent. Thalassemia (or Cooley's anemia) is found in people of Mediterranean and Southeast Asian descent. These types of anemia are extremely common. Another inherited anemia is Fanconi anemia, but this is very rare.

Cy, JUDGE DREDD, Madtoscratch, Lianne, lutece, SueB, akesingland, riaY, bryndavell, Groovygirl, david_8, SJ, Terrimayormaynot, jjoblogs1, anglichanin, Tom_B, bubble, TrishR, squoink, GATTACA, willy, Roger, margurita_simpson, snowy, beacon, LyndsayA, stripe77, Snow Surfer, lighthearted The material has been extracted from Psoriasis at your fingertips by Dr Tim Mitchell & Rebecca Penzer (Class Publishing).