Iron deficiency anemia is a painful condition, accompanied by a significant decrease in red blood cells in the blood, as well as depletion of iron stores. Lowering 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 on time.
Decreased hemoglobin: causes
The human body loses iron protein for a number of reasons. The most common are the following:
- Blood loss, which is divided into: obvious, that is, visible loss of blood by the body due to abdominal operations, wounds, serious injuries, advanced hemorrhoids, heavy menstruation in women; hidden - the development of internal bleeding with the progression of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Low content of vitamins and amino acids that are necessary for the hemoglobin synthesis process. If the body lacks vitamin C or folic acid, then this is due to an unbalanced, meager diet.
- Deficiency of vitamin B12, which is possible due to helminthic invasion.
- Digestive system problems: gastritis, colitis, ulcer. These ailments interfere with the absorption of iron, in connection with the depletion of the gastrointestinal mucosa.
- Infectious diseases of a severe nature: hepatitis, tuberculosis, etc. The pathological processes that accompany these diseases lead to premature death of red cells in the blood. As a result, a person’s hemoglobin level may fall 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 hormones that regulate the absorption process in the intestines of iron, respectively, with their deficiency hemoglobin decreases.
- Autoimmune diseases leading to damage and destruction of normal tissues.
- Malignant blood disease causes hemoglobin up to 50 g / l.
- The presence of neoplasms in the internal organs.
- The presence in life of stressful situations that, oppressing the psyche, can introduce a person into a feeling of depression. Negative emotions disrupt metabolic processes, affecting a decrease in hemoglobin.
- Imbalance in nutrition. Harm can occur not only due to insufficient intake of the necessary useful elements and substances. There are also a number of products that, when consumed in large quantities, can become provocateurs of hemoglobin reduction. These include: strong coffee, tea, chocolate, cereals. All these products inhibit the absorption of iron.
- Low physical activity, which can serve as a catalyst in slowing the movement of blood through 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 the low iron protein is constant donation. If a person is healthy, then everything will recover quickly, if hemoglobin does not return to normal, then the medical staff refuses the services of this donor.
Symptoms of ailment
A decrease in hemoglobin to 50 g / l has the following symptoms:
- Subjective - it is evidenced by patient complaints.
- Objective, which is measured quantitatively.
Subjective asthenic symptoms include:
- insomnia at night along with drowsiness during the day;
- weakness throughout the body;
- heavy morning rise, in which a person needs effort to get up;
- noise in ears;
- fatigue;
- frequent migraines;
- dizziness, sometimes fainting and fainting;
- menstrual irregularities;
- decreased appetite, up to a complete aversion to food;
- decrease in potency.
All these symptoms are manifested in connection with a lack of oxygen in the tissues, and as a result, disturbances in the pH level of cells occur.
Subjective dystrophic symptoms
You can also distinguish subjective dystrophic symptoms, which are signs of iron deficiency and are indirect in nature:
- the nail plates are affected: it delaminates, becomes thinner, breaks, spots and fungal diseases may appear;
- hair deteriorates: it falls out, almost does not grow, splits, becomes faded and brittle.
- violation of taste and smell, you may also want to eat something inedible (sand, chalk, sulfur, toothpaste, raw minced meat, raw cereals, etc.), they start to attract the smells of naphthalene, acetone, varnish;
- integuments become dry and pale;
- some note tingling in the feet;
- cramps of the lower extremities;
- a slight increase in body temperature.
All these symptoms can 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 excess of heart rate;
- low blood pressure;
- heart murmurs.
If hemoglobin has decreased relatively recently, then a person feels primarily only weakness, overwork or vitamin deficiency. In this regard, it is better to take a blood test several times a year, in order to prevent subsequent painful consequences.
The danger of anemia and consequences
According to statistics, a third of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency anemia. Especially this ailment is common among women and children. There are several forms of anemia:
- Light, in which the iron-containing protein in the blood is 90-120 g / l.
- Average - up to 60 g / l.
- Severe - in this case, the level drops below 60 g / l.
When hemoglobin decreases to 50 g / l, then the risk of acidosis may appear - this is a shift in the acid-base balance in the body to an increase in acidity. This condition is extremely dangerous, as over time it will lead to inhibition of both cardiac activity and respiratory centers.
With prolonged exposure to 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 protective function against harmful microbes and organisms, which undoubtedly poses a great threat to health, 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 also their own characteristics. 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 always violated, sometimes menstruation ceases altogether.
One of the causes of hemoglobin 50 in a woman may be pseudo blood loss, which occurs with diseases of the female organs such as uterine fibroids, and the presence of cysts on the ovaries. All neoplasms have the specificity of filling with blood, the resorption of which is slow. And the function of hemoglobin cannot be performed, since it is converted to another compound.
Pregnancy and Anemia
The most common cause of hemoglobin reduction to 50 in women is pregnancy. This condition causes concern for the health of both the mother and the child who has not yet been born.
The danger of such an ailment is as follows:
- development of uterine hypotension (decreased tone and ability to contract);
- hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the child);
- the placenta is not located correctly;
- intrauterine growth retardation or cessation of development.
A child can be born with pathologies:
- low weight;
- underdevelopment;
- violation 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, women in position are required to carefully monitor their health status, visiting doctors. If possible, even when planning a pregnancy, you should improve your health in order to prevent negative consequences.
Anemia in children
In babies, this ailment is associated with various pathologies or a lack of vitamins and minerals in the body. Anemia is dangerous for a child by weakened immunity: the body is vulnerable to various kinds of infections. Also, this ailment can affect the deterioration of physical and mental health. It is important to monitor the composition of the blood from birth and follow all the doctor's recommendations.
For a child's body under 18 years of age, the norms of iron-containing protein are distinguished only by age, sexual characteristics do not play a role, unlike adults. The norm in infants in 1-2 weeks is considered to be 125-206 g / l, in 1 year - 105-146 g / l. Further, the hemoglobin level rises by 1-3 g / l and reaches 110-150 g / l by the age of 6-8, and from 115 to 18 years old - 115-160 g / l.
Signs of Anemia in Children
Parents independently identify this ailment is not easy. Poor appetite, fatigue, drowsiness, distraction are perceived by them as a temporary feature and do not attract close attention. But at this time, there is a probability of metabolic disturbances.
Signs of anemia include:
- pallor, weakness;
- poor weight gain or lack of weight gain at all;
- dizziness;
- slow growth;
- frequent SARS;
- changeability of behavior.
Such symptoms do not always indicate this ailment, but still it will be useful to donate blood for analysis. If an adult decreases hemoglobin to 50 g / l, then blood transfusion cannot be dispensed with. For children up to a year, 85 g / l is considered a critical mark, after a year 70 g / l. In excessively active children, often reduced hemoglobin is recorded.
Treatment methods
In order to start treatment, it is important to try to identify the exact cause of the pathology and try to exclude it. Therapeutic measures should be aimed both at normalizing the color index, the level of iron-containing protein, and at restoring the concentration of iron in the blood and serum depot.
In the presence of micro- or macrobleeding, it is often shown:
- correction of uterine bleeding;
- removal of hemorrhoids;
- operable elimination of fibromyoma;
- therapy of gastritis, enteritis, ulcers and other diseases of the housing and communal services.
The pathogenetic methods of treating reduced hemoglobin up to 50 g / l include prescribing by a doctor drugs with B vitamins (Neurobeks, Neurobion, Combilipen) and iron (Actiferrin, Maltofer, Ferkayl). They can be taken in the form of tablets or syrup, but injections will be 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 hemoglobin for a woman from 50 g / l to normal, if the decrease has undetermined etiological factors (heavy menstruation, uterine bleeding, etc.), the doctor is developing a relapse therapy for chronic anemia. Often, with such a low value, a blood transfusion is necessary, but sometimes doctors manage to choose effective drugs (Ferrumlek, Sorbifer Durules, Totem), which must be taken with the regularity with which he will prescribe.
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;
- beet;
- black currant;
- plums, apples, peaches;
- pomegranates and prunes;
- dried apricots and rose hips;
- nuts, beans;
- Tomatoes
- peeled baked potatoes.
If the cause of reduced hemoglobin is only a lack of iron, then with such a diet it will return to normal in 3-4 weeks.