Iron deficiency anemia is a painful condition, accompanied by a significant decrease in red blood cells in the blood, as well as the depletion of iron stores in the body. A decrease in hemoglobin to 50 is an alarming sign, but a slight decrease is characteristic of the population of our planet. In any case, the main thing is to find the cause and start treatment in time.
Reduced hemoglobin: causes
The human body loses iron-containing protein for a number of reasons. The most common are the following:
- Blood loss, which is divided into: obvious, i.e., visible loss of blood by the body due to abdominal operations, injuries, serious injuries, neglected hemorrhoids, heavy menstruation in women; latent - the development of internal bleeding with the progression of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Low in vitamins and amino acids, which are essential for the process of hemoglobin synthesis. If the body lacks vitamin C or folateacids, then this is due to an unbalanced, poor diet.
- Vitamin B12 deficiency, which is possible due to helminthic invasion.
- Problems with the digestive system: gastritis, colitis, ulcers. These ailments prevent the absorption of iron, due to the depletion of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract.
- Severe infectious diseases: hepatitis, tuberculosis, etc. Pathological processes that accompany these diseases lead to premature death of red cells in the blood. As a result, a person's hemoglobin may drop below 50 g/L.
- Hypothyroidism is a severe syndrome that is caused by a decrease in the level of hormones in the thyroid gland. It is the hormones that regulate the absorption of iron in the intestines, respectively, with their deficiency, hemoglobin drops.
- Autoimmune diseases that damage and destroy normal tissues.
- Malignant blood disease causes hemoglobin up to 50 g/l.
- Presence of neoplasms in internal organs.
- Presence in life of stressful situations that, depressing the psyche, can make a person feel depressed. Negative emotions disrupt metabolic processes, affecting the decrease in hemoglobin.
- Imbalance in nutrition. Harm can manifest itself not only due to insufficient intake of the necessary useful elements and substances into the body. There are also a number of products that, when consumed in large quantities, can become provocateurs of a decrease in hemoglobin. These include: strong coffee, tea, chocolate, cereals. All these productsinhibit the absorption of iron.
- Low physical activity, which can act as a catalyst in slowing the movement of blood through the arteries, veins and capillaries. The human brain at this moment receives a signal that says that there are enough red blood cells in the body, so there is no need to produce them.
The natural cause of low iron-containing protein is constant donation. If a person is he althy, then in this case everything will quickly recover, but if hemoglobin does not return to normal, then the medical staff refuses the services of this donor.
Symptoms of the disease
Reducing hemoglobin to 50 g/l has the following symptoms:
- Subjective - the patient's complaints testify to it.
- Objective, which is measured quantitatively.
Subjective asthenic symptoms include:
- night-time insomnia along with sleepiness during the day;
- weakness all over the body;
- heavy morning rise, in which a person needs effort to get up;
- tinnitus;
- fatigue;
- frequent migraines;
- dizziness, sometimes fainting and fainting;
- menstrual irregularity;
- reduced appetite, up to a complete aversion to food;
- decrease in potency.
All these symptoms are manifested due to insufficient oxygen in the tissues, and as a result, there are disturbances in the pH level of the cells.
Subjective dystrophic symptoms
You can also highlight subjective dystrophic symptoms, which are signs of iron deficiency and are indirect:
- nail plates are affected: they exfoliate, become thinner, break, stains and fungal diseases may appear;
- hair deteriorates: fall out, almost do not grow, split, become faded and brittle.
- violation of taste and smell, there may also be a desire to eat something inedible (sand, chalk, sulfur, toothpaste, raw minced meat, raw cereals, etc.), smells of naphthalene, acetone, varnish begin to attract;
- skin becomes dry and pale;
- some people report tingling in their feet;
- convulsions of the lower extremities occur;
- slight increase in body temperature.
All these symptoms may be present even with a slight decrease in hemoglobin, in cases where it is lowered for a long period, objective symptoms should include:
- tachycardia, which is accompanied by a significant increase in heart rate;
- low blood pressure;
- heart murmurs.
If hemoglobin has decreased relatively recently, then a person first of all feels only weakness, overwork or beriberi. In this regard, it is better to take a blood test several times a year in order to prevent subsequent painful consequences.
Danger of anemia and consequences
PoAccording to statistics, one third of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency anemia. This disease is especially common among women and children. There are several forms of anemia:
- Mild, in which the iron-containing protein in the blood is 90-120 g/l.
- Medium - up to 60 g/l.
- Severe - in this case, the level drops below 60 g/l.
When there is a decrease in hemoglobin to 50 g / l, then there may be a threat of acidosis - this is a shift in the acid-base balance in the body to an increase in acidity. Such a condition is extremely dangerous, as over time it will lead to depression of both cardiac activity and respiratory centers.
With a long stay of low hemoglobin in severe form, problems with the human immune system are possible. The most common cold in this case will be difficult, with the possibility of complications. Gradually, the body loses its function of protection against harmful microbes and organisms, which undoubtedly poses a great threat to he alth, and sometimes life.
Features of the course of the disease in men and women
In adults of different sexes, anemia is manifested by similar symptoms, but there are some peculiarities. With hemoglobin 50, a man has a decrease in male strength, and sometimes temporary impotence. In the beautiful half of humanity, the menstrual cycle is always disrupted, sometimes menstruation stops altogether.
One of the causes of hemoglobin 50 in a woman can be pseudo blood loss, which happens with suchdiseases of the female organs, such as uterine fibroids, the presence of cysts on the ovaries. All neoplasms have the specificity of being filled with blood, the resorption of which occurs slowly. And the function of hemoglobin cannot be performed, as it is converted to another compound.
Pregnancy and anemia
The most common cause of a decrease in hemoglobin to 50 in women is pregnancy. This condition causes concern for the he alth of both the mother and the unborn child.
The danger of such a disease is as follows:
- development of hypotension of the uterus (the tone and ability to contract decreases);
- hypoxia (lack of oxygen for the child);
- placenta not positioned correctly;
- intrauterine growth retardation or failure to thrive.
Baby may be born with pathologies:
- low weight;
- underdevelopment;
- disturbance of the nervous and respiratory systems;
- atrophy of individual organs and muscles;
- deviation in physical and mental development, the manifestation of which is possible after several months or even years.
Given the seriousness of this condition, pregnant women are required to carefully monitor their he alth by visiting doctors. If possible, even when planning a pregnancy, you should improve your he alth in order to prevent negative consequences.
Anemia in children
In babies, this disease is associatedwith various pathologies or lack of vitamins and minerals in the body. Anemia is dangerous for a child by weakening the immune system: the body is vulnerable to various kinds of infections. Also, this disease can affect the deterioration of physical and mental he alth. It is important to monitor the composition of the blood from birth and follow all the doctor's recommendations.
For a child's organism up to 18 years of age, the norms of iron-containing protein are distinguished only by age, gender characteristics do not play a role, unlike adults. The norm for a baby at 1-2 weeks is considered to be 125-206 g / l, at 1 year - 105-146 g / l. Further, the hemoglobin level increases by 1-3 g/l and by the age of 6-8 reaches 110-150 g/l, and from 14 to 18 years - 115-160 g/l.
Signs of anemia in children
It is not easy for parents to identify this disease on their own. Poor appetite, fatigue, drowsiness, absent-mindedness are perceived by them as a temporary feature and do not attract close attention. But at this time there is a possibility of metabolic disorders.
Signs of anemia include:
- pallor, weakness;
- poor weight gain or no gain at all;
- dizziness;
- slow growth;
- frequent SARS;
- changing behavior.
Such symptoms do not always indicate this disease, but it would still be useful to donate blood for analysis. If an adult's hemoglobin level drops to 50 g / l, then a blood transfusion cannot be dispensed with. For children up to a year of critic althe mark is 85 g/l, after a year 70 g/l. Children who are overly active often have low hemoglobin levels.
Treatment methods
In order to start treatment, it is important to try to identify the exact cause of the pathology and try to eliminate it. Therapeutic measures should be aimed at both normalizing the color index, the level of iron-containing protein, and restoring the concentration of iron in the blood depot and serum.
In the presence of micro- or macrobleeding, often indicated:
- correction of uterine bleeding;
- removal of hemorrhoid nodes;
- operable removal of fibroids;
- treatment of gastritis, enteritis, ulcers and other diseases of the housing and communal services.
Pathogenetic methods of treating low hemoglobin up to 50 g/l include prescribing drugs with B vitamins ("Neurobeks", "Neurobion", "Combilipen") and iron ("Aktiferrin", "M altofer", "Ferkail "). They can be taken as tablets or syrup, but injections are more effective. The dose of medication is strictly prescribed by the doctor. It should be sufficient, but in no case excessive, so as not to cause intolerance to the drug.
In order to increase a woman's hemoglobin from 50 g / l to normal, if the decrease has unidentified etiological factors (heavy menstruation, uterine bleeding, etc.), the doctor is developing anti-relapse therapy for anemia that wearschronic nature. Often, with such a low value, a blood transfusion is necessary, but sometimes doctors manage to find effective drugs (Ferrumlek, Sorbifer Durules, Totema), which must be taken as regularly as he prescribes.
Food Adjustment
Sometimes the cause of the disease is an unbalanced diet. In this case, the following products will help to cope with it:
- red meat;
- liver;
- buckwheat;
- beets;
- blackcurrant;
- plums, apples, peaches;
- pomegranates and prunes;
- dried apricots and wild rose;
- nuts, beans;
- tomatoes;
- baked potato with skin on.
If the cause of low hemoglobin is only a lack of iron, then with this diet it will return to normal in 3-4 weeks.
