Low Hemoglobin - Causes And Symptoms Of Low Hemoglobin

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Causes and symptoms of low hemoglobin

Why do people have a drop in hemoglobin levels? Why pharmaceutical drugs do not always help, and sometimes even harmful, and how to avoid it? How easy is it to increase hemoglobin at home? You will learn all this in this article.

Content:

• Symptoms of low hemoglobin
• Determination of hemoglobin
• How much hemoglobin should be?
• Why is low hemoglobin level dangerous?
• Iron absorption, what's the catch?
• Causes of low hemoglobin
• How to replenish iron levels and increase hemoglobin?
• Video: Hematogen - a remedy for anemia or a dummy?
• Low hemoglobin treatment

Symptoms of low hemoglobin

How can a person determine a decrease in hemoglobin? First of all, this is the presence of asthenic symptoms: the patient feels general weakness, gets tired quickly, he has drowsiness, dizzy, headaches, heart rate and blood pressure disorders (reduced) are possible. In severe cases, patients may faint.

When a decrease in hemoglobin is a consequence of a lack of iron in the body, dystrophic symptoms are noted: the skin is dry, cracks form in the corners of the mouth, nails and hair become brittle, fall out, slowly grow back. Smell and taste disorders may occur.

Predominantly low hemoglobin is a sign of a medical condition. The most common ones are:

• chronic iron deficiency anemia;
• blood loss;
• thinning of the stomach lining (chronic atrophic gastritis);
• inflammatory bowel disease, dysbiosis (chronic enteritis);
• iron deficiency anemia after surgery;
• autoimmune diseases (lupus, glomerulonephritis, rheumatoid arthritis);
• long-term infectious diseases (hepatitis, gastroenterocolitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia, kidney inflammation, etc.);
• malignant blood pathologies;
• malignant tumor lesions, especially of the gastrointestinal tract.

Determination of hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is a complex compound of iron and protein. It is found in erythrocytes - red blood cells. Hemoglobin performs the most important function for the body - the transfer of oxygen molecules to all organs and tissues. It captures oxygen in the lungs and carries out further oxidation, transferring it to all the necessary structures. Oxygen is necessary for the body to ensure life, receive and exchange energy and carry out restorative reactions.

To produce hemoglobin, you need to eat iron-containing foods. It is also important that iron is normally absorbed in the small intestine. The content of B vitamins in food is extremely important, especially vitamin B12 and folic acid. It is also important that there are no pathological changes in the blood, that is, acquired or hereditary blood diseases.

Normally, the amount of hemoglobin in the blood of men is 130–160 g / l, in women - 120–147 g / l. In pregnant women, the lower limit of the hemoglobin norm is reduced to 110 g / l.

How much hemoglobin should be?

For the norm of hemoglobin, values are taken that are different in age, sex and other human characteristics.

Hemoglobin is calculated in grams per liter (g / l). For an adult man, the normal indicator is 130-170 g / l, while for a woman it is 120-155 g / l. This difference is due to the fact that men have a higher concentration of androgens (a special group of steroid hormones) that stimulate the formation of red blood cells. For pregnant women, the normal hemoglobin limits are reduced to 110-140 g / l, as the body begins to use iron more actively.

In people under 18 years of age, the hemoglobin rate is differentiated by age and does not depend on gender. In the first two weeks of life, hemoglobin 135-195 g / l is considered normal, then this indicator decreases to 125-165 g / l, and by one year it reaches 110-130 g / l. After that, the hemoglobin level gradually increases by about 1-3 g / l per year (both at the lower and upper limits). For example, by school age (6-7 years), it reaches 115-135 g / l, and by 13-14 years - 120-145 g / l.

A blood test can show a deviation in the concentration of hemoglobin, not only in metabolic disorders and various diseases, but also for other reasons. This is the use on this day or on the eve of fatty, fried, alcohol, excessive mental or physical exertion, taking certain medications, smoking before the analysis.

Many people have decreased hemoglobin, which in 90% of cases is associated with iron deficiency anemia. This syndrome is typical for about 30% of the world's population, especially for children and women.

Why is low hemoglobin level dangerous?

With a decrease in hemoglobin due to iron deficiency anemia, a lot of symptoms can appear. This is weakness, malaise, decreased performance, dizziness. Often there is shortness of breath, heartbeat increases, taste and smell are distorted, dryness appears in the mouth, and the tongue begins to tingle.

Outward signs of anemia include dryness and thinning of hair, pallor and flaking of the skin and lips, brittle nails and loss of shine. Women may experience burning or itching of the genitals (external) organs. With a strong decrease in hemoglobin, fainting and dizziness begin, constant headache, rapid fatigue, and attention is disturbed. Muscle relaxation is common, sometimes leading to urinary incontinence.

If hemoglobin is below normal, then there are malfunctions of the immune system. This can lead to complications in any disease, even if it is an elementary cold.

Low hemoglobin levels are common in most pregnant women. A strong deviation from the norm affects the health of both the woman herself and the child she is carrying. In women, there are complications such as uterine hypotension, abnormal placement of the placenta, hypoxia, delay or cessation of fetal development. A born child may have low weight, underdevelopment, disorders of the respiratory and nervous systems, subsequent deviations in mental and physical development, atrophy of muscles and organs.

If hemoglobin is slightly reduced during anemia, then the problem can be solved by taking vitamins and changing your diet. It should contain meat and offal, fish, pomegranates, buckwheat, apples and freshly squeezed juices. By the way, it is precisely because of the lack of meat and by-products in the diet that vegetarians often have low hemoglobin levels. More serious deviations from the norm are solved already at the medication level.

Often a decrease in hemoglobin indicates the presence of a disease or other disorder in the body. It can be an infection, hereditary pathology, a violation of hemoglobin synthesis, hemoglobin can decrease due to blood loss, and not only explicit, but also latent, for example, in some diseases of the stomach or intestines, uterine myoma, ovarian cyst.

In any case, with a decrease in hemoglobin from the norm, you need to change your diet, and if there is a large deviation, it is worth visiting a specialist - a hematologist.

Iron absorption, what's the catch?

So why, taking extra iron by mouth, we in most cases do not achieve results?

Most drugs designed to replenish iron in the body are in the form of ferric iron. Unfortunately, this form is very difficult to digest and is more likely to cause constipation and heaviness in the stomach than help with this problem. The body only assimilates ferrous iron, but such a drug is much more difficult to find.

The second reason for low iron absorption lies in casein. All dairy products contain a special protein called casein. It sticks together with iron and does not allow it to be absorbed and is simply excreted from the body. Therefore, one more important condition - all dairy products (milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, cream, fermented baked milk, including fermented milk products) must be excluded from the diet, at least not to consume them within 5 hours before and after iron intake (if talk about pharmaceutical preparations).

Thirdly, if you have low stomach acidity, then iron will be less absorbed. And the lower it is, the worse the effect will be!

There is one more important thing: if your iron is greatly reduced, then first of all it will accumulate in the liver, and only then it will appear in the blood, so it should be consumed from 1-2 months to six months.

Causes of low hemoglobin

The body can lose hemoglobin for various reasons. This happens most quickly with blood loss - both explicit and latent. Obvious bleeding occurs with heavy and prolonged menstruation in women (more than five days), hemorrhoids, various wounds, trauma or operations.

Latent bleeding is possible with some gastrointestinal diseases, pathologies of the female reproductive system (ovarian cyst, uterine fibroids, etc.). Autoimmune diseases, infections or hereditary diseases can lead to a decrease in hemoglobin and a short life of red blood cells.

Also, low hemoglobin is observed in blood donors (with systematic, personnel donation). In children, low hemoglobin may be the result of an unbalanced diet, poor in vitamins and minerals necessary for the body.

How to replenish iron levels and increase hemoglobin?

Probably everyone has heard that black caviar increases hemoglobin. Yes, it can even raise hemoglobin significantly in one day, but not everyone can afford it, not to mention the fact that it cannot be bought so easily on the market, since its sale is prohibited. Sale of black caviar is carried out only through retail stores.

There are also more affordable means. Dried fruits contain much more iron than fresh ones, so you can easily make a "concentrate" at home.

Combine dried apricots (or apricots), raisins (you can add prunes), walnuts, lemon and honey. Grind everything into a homogeneous mixture in a meat grinder or food processor. Take a teaspoon 3 times daily before meals.

It will not be superfluous to drink rosehip infusion instead of tea, which also contains a lot of iron, not to mention the fact that the rosehip holds the record for the content of vitamin C. And vitamin C improves the absorption of iron by an order of magnitude, like calcium in ionic form (only not dairy products !)

Be sure to eat pomegranates every day, you can juice them. Despite the fact that there is little iron in them, it is completely absorbed by the body. And thanks to the huge amount of other useful substances, it will be easier for the body to get back on its feet.

If you are a juice lover, focus on green apple and pumpkin juice.

On the subject: TOP products to increase hemoglobin

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Low hemoglobin treatment

To restore hemoglobin, treatment of the underlying medical condition is usually necessary. In addition, the patient needs to take vitamin B12 and folic acid. Food should be rich in iron and animal proteins. It is useful to eat fish, meat, eggs, combining them with complex carbohydrates (fiber) found in fruits and vegetables. In severe cases, this is not enough. Then the patient is shown pills and intravenous injections.

To increase the level of hemoglobin, it is recommended to eat liver, kidneys, heart, white chicken meat. For cereals, give preference to buckwheat, beans, lentils, peas and other legumes. Among the vegetables, the best are tomatoes, young potatoes, onions, pumpkin, salad. Any greens (parsley, dandelion, spinach, dill) are useful. Iron-rich fruits: any apples, bananas, pomegranates, apricots, peaches, plums, persimmons and quince. Be sure to drink juices: pomegranate, beetroot, carrot. It is also useful to eat seafood, nuts (especially walnuts), dried fruits, chocolate (black).

The author of the article: Shutov Maxim Evgenievich | Hematologist

Education: In 2013 he graduated from the Kursk State Medical University and received a diploma "General Medicine". After 2 years, completed residency in the specialty "Oncology". In 2016 completed postgraduate studies at the National Medical and Surgical Center named after N. I. Pirogov.