Have you been feeling tired, weak, dizzy or fatigued lately?

This could be due to many reasons; and one of those could be anaemia. Anaemia occurs when there are low levels of iron (haemoglobin) in the blood; this inhibits the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells (RBC) in the body leading to fatigue. The normal RBC count for women is 12 mg/ dl and for men 15 mg/ dl, the count can be checked by a simple blood test.

Causes of Anaemia

Anaemia could be due to blood loss, a reduction in the body's ability to produce new red blood cells, or an illness leading to destruction of red blood cells.

Blood loss:

This is common in women who experience heavy menstrual periods or those with gastro intestinal ulcers and other digestive problems. This usually goes undiagnosed and is only discovered through a blood test. The amount of blood lost is greater than the body's ability to replace the RBC's.

Low RBC production:

Sometimes old red blood cells are not replaced with new ones efficiently. This could be due to various causes.

• A diet deficient in iron, folic acid, vitamin B12 and other essential nutrients
• Chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and HIV/AIDS can interfere with the body's ability to produce red blood cells.
• Women who are pregnant also can become anaemic as the foetus depends on maternal iron stores for its own development.
• Genetic disorders like sickle cell anaemia and haemolytic anaemia can lead to destruction in red blood cells.
• An illness that affects the spleen can cause the body to attack its own red blood cells and destroy them. A diseased or enlarged spleen removes more red blood cells than necessary.

Anaemia Signs and Symptoms

The most common symptom of anaemia is fatigue. This is different from feeling tired after normal physical exertion. Anaemic related fatigue is when you feel weary after shorter and shorter periods of exertion as your body's cells become starved for oxygen. Other signs include brittle nails, pale skin and delayed blood clotting time, irritability, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, trouble focussing, dizziness and chest pain. These symptoms may be overlooked initially as the body tries to adapt and compensate for the lack of oxygen in the blood. If ignored at this stage, the body becomes less adaptive and cannot cope well.

Diet

Iron deficiency anaemia can be prevented by eating foods rich in iron. These include- Red meat (in moderation), skinless poultry, seafood, beans, dark green leafy vegetables (spinach), dried fruit (dates, raisins and apricots) and peas.

Eating a vitamin C rich food along with iron rich foods enhances dietary iron absorption. Foods rich in vitamin C include- citrus fruits (oranges, limes, musambi, grapefruit), kiwi fruit, strawberries, capsicum, green chillies and tomatoes.