Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Iron deficiency Anemia verses Pernicious Anemia
Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Iron deficiency Anemia verses Pernicious Anemia
Anemia is abnormal condition where blood cannot transport sufficient oxygen that exactly meets the demands of your body. It is generally referred to as a body disorder and not a sickness per say. In most of the developing countries, Anemia is among the most prevalent health problems to the public. It affects various people regardless of being children, elderly, men, and women. However, there are different types of anemia based on specific mineral deficiency. The deficiency of Iron causes Iron deficiency anemia. Severe iron deficiency diminishes erythropoiesis. This causes development of anemia. Iron is important for all living things during metabolic processes such as transportation of oxygen, synthesis of DNA, and transportation of electrons. On the other hand, folate deficiency anemia is an anemia type caused by lack of sufficient folate in the body. Economically, anemia reduces the workforce available for execution of physical labor. This retards the pace of national development in the long run. The making of red blood cells requires folate, otherwise referred to as B vitamin. Red blood cells are crucial in the supply of oxygen. When iron absorption is below the threshold, or when there is intravascular hemolysis which causes excess loss of iron, Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is experienced. Iron deficiency can, therefore, be attributed to dietary lack of iron or loss of iron due to hemorrhages. In the case of folate deficiency anemia, it is caused by a number of factors.
Poor diet is one of the known causes. When the body cannot keep folate, frequent eating of folate foods is required to rejuvenate the same. Some epilepsy medicines are also known to interfere with the use of folate in the body. Too much drinking of alcohol may also decrease the ability of the body to absorb and utilize folate. Inheritance of certain anemia, that cause quick breakdown of blood cells leads to folate deficiency. Baby development in pregnant women also requires folate in huge amounts and thus, this may lead to its deficiency, causing Folate Deficiency Anemia in the long run. According to Huether and McCance, all types of anemia are diagnosable based on their symptoms. The two authors mentioned above also further argue that, Anemia can be classified based on the morphology of red blood cells (RBCs), erythrokinetic schemes (the rates of RBCs production and destruction) and biochemical or molecular methods. The other common similarity between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Folate Deficiency Anemia is that, they both arise from the lack of essential minerals by the body. It is also notable that the two types of anemia stated above makes the patient to experience palpitations. Gender is seen as one of the determinants of anemia prevalence.
Females are more prevalent to anemia than males. This is due to various predisposing factors such as pregnancy among females. According to Huether and McCance, black people are more prevalent to anemia than the whites. This is based on a research held in the United States by the US National Institute of Health in 2010. The research by the United States National Institute of Health also found out that, anemia is more prevalent in old people than children. This is attributed to the fact that most old people have skewed eating habits and poor digestion levels compared to children or younger persons. Genetically, some people with anemia history in their kinship health are more prevalent to anemia than those who never had anemia in their family heritage. This means that, in some cases, through the genes, anemia codes itself from one generation to another. Behavior also matters a lot. People with excess alcohol drinking habits and poor eating habits were found to be more prevalent to anemia than those with good eating and alcohol consumption habits. In conclusion, treatment of anemia needs to be cause-specific.
References
US National Library of Medicine (2012), Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851744/ on 26th December 2012.
Medscape Reference (2012), Retrieved from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/202333-overview#a0104 on 26th December 2012.
Bupa (2012), Retrieved from http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/f/anaemia-folate on 26th December 2012.
HealthPlus24 Retrieved from http://www.healthplus24.com/diseases/anemia.aspx on 26th December 2012.
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2012).Understanding pathophysiology(5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
McPhee, S. J., & Hammer, G. D. (2010).Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine(6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Medical
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