Anemia Part I - Types of Anemia

It is hard to believe that America, a country with one of the highest standard living in the world having over 20 million people with the disease of anemia caused by unhealthy diet, and nutritional deficiency with protein and fat intake 30% more than any other country in the world. Most people understand that anemia is caused by iron deficiency in the bloodstream but in reality anemia is characterized by deficiency in the hemoglobin of the red blood cells diminishing the ability of the blood to transport oxygen to our cells and to removing carbon dioxide. In this article, we will discuss types of anemia.

1. Genetically passed through
Anemia is a genetic disease passing through from generation to generation.
a) Thalassmia
i) Thalassmia minor
It is the most common anemia in people of the Mediterranean descent. This is the mild case of anemia. The blood cell is smaller than normal blood cells and easily die off causing stress for the reproduction of new red blood cells because of not enough new blood cells to replace the loss of red blood cells.
ii) Thalassmia major
Thalassmia major is also called Cooley's anemia. It is an inherited disorder that affects the production of normal hemoglobin. Thalassmia major is a deadly disease without frequent blood transfusions, people with this kind of anemia may not survive because of iron building up in heart and other organs, resulting in heart failure.

b) Aplastic anemia
This is one of the most deadly and rarest case of anemia. For whatever reason, the marrow bone that produces red blood cell does not work properly or it may be caused by an auto-immune disorder resulting in white blood cells attacking the bone marrow.

c) Sickle-celled anemia
This is a serious, life-threatening inherited form of anemia that mostly affects people of African ancestry. Sickle cell anemia is formed of hemoglobin deficiency causing red blood cells to become sticky, stiff, and more fragile resulting in the form of a curve and sickle-shape, restricting the circulation of blood in our body.

2. Deficiency of iron anemia
Iron is the most importance mineral in the blood, working together with zinc and copper to help to increase the oxygen level and circulation of our blood to nurture our body's cells and removing carbon dioxide from the bloodstream. Iron is a hard to be absorbed mineral, without taking together with vitamin C, most iron in our body are wasted.

3 Deficiency of folate acid and vitamin B12 anemia (pernicious anemia)
Folate acid and vitamin B12 is vital for the reproduction of red blood cells caused by excessive drinking of alcohol and certain intake of certain medication such as oral contraceptive or anticancer drug. People eating only cooked foods have a highest risk of deficiency of folate and vitamin B12 anemia.

4. Chronic blood loss anemia
This type of anemia is resulted from a variety of chronic conditions such as hemorrhoids, cancer, menstruation and peptic ulcers.

5. Hemolytic anemia
In this case, the destruction of old red blood cells exceeds the production of new ones caused by the defective hemoglobin synthesis or trauma within the arteries, or caused by antibodies being produced by the immune system damaging red blood cells.