Anemia of Chronic Disease

The blood in the body acts as a carrier of oxygen, carbon dioxide, essential nutrients and hormones from one part of the body to another. In other words, transportation of these useful substances between various parts of the body takes place through the medium of blood. These activities are carried out by the components of blood, namely red blood cells, white blood cells and blood plasma or the liquid medium. Basically, iron deficiency anemia is caused when the count of red blood cells is low. Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) usually occurs when a person is suffering from a disease or infection for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes, it could be a symptom of a particular health condition or it may be due to iron deficiency or vitamin deficiency resulting from a health disorder.

Causes

The exact cause of anemia of chronic disease is not yet known. Those people who are suffering from some chronic disease are more prone to this type of anemia. Diseases like syphilis, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis, connective tissue disorder, trauma, etc. make a person more prone to ACD. In some cases, young children can develop this anemia after suffering from certain infections. These infections affect our body in various ways. The process of production of red blood cells becomes slow and the lifespan of red blood cells produced decreases as well. Usually, our body recycles the iron required for making new red blood cells from the old ones. Due to the chronic infection or disease this process of recycling of iron halts. Therefore, the body does not get enough iron for making new blood cells.

Diagnosis

General symptoms of anemia are weakness, fatigue, headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, paleness of skin, etc. Most of the time, these symptoms of anemia gets covered up by the signs of the chronic ailment. Thus the diagnosis of the anemia becomes difficult. Anemia of chronic disease can be diagnosed through blood tests. A low serum iron content in blood is the main indication that the patient is anemic. When there is some inflammatory disease or tumor, plasma protein content of the blood increases as a result of which the sedimentation rate of blood becomes higher. This condition can also be detected by means of a blood test. In some cases, a bone marrow biopsy is carried out to confirm the presence of ACD. This test helps to ascertain the iron level in the bone marrow. If the amount of stored iron in bone marrow is high, it suggests that the patient is suffering from anemia of chronic disease.

Treatment

The treatment mainly involves curing the underlying causes. If a person is suffering from a liver disease, the anemia gets cured when the liver starts functioning normally after treatment. Cancer patients may suffer from anemia due to undernourishment. In such cases, intake of iron supplements and vitamin supplements prescribed by the doctor helps in improving the anemic condition. If anemia turns serious due to large amount of blood loss or non- absorption of iron in the body, blood transfusion may be required. When a patient is suffering from endocrine failure, anemia of chronic disease is treated with hormone replacement therapy.

Anemia of chronic disease is one of the most common forms of anemia. Though it is not a very severe form of anemia, proper diagnosis and treatment of anemia is essential. Or else, the patient will weaken further and the recovery from this chronic health condition will become difficult.