Symptoms of Severe Anemia

When the number of red blood cells or amount of hemoglobin in the blood is reduced, then this medical condition is known as anemia. It is one of the common blood disorders. Normal life span of red blood cells is about 120 days. If this normal life span disrupts, then it can lead to anemia. Major types of anemia are iron-deficiency anemia, sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia and anemia of chronic disease. In aplastic anemia, production of blood cells in bone marrow is totally stopped. This type of anemia is very severe and can be seen in both adults and children. Anemia is caused by reduced production of hemoglobin or red blood cells, or by destruction or loss of blood. Other causes of anemia are blood loss due to gastrointestinal bleeding, gastric ulcers, hemorrhoids, hemophilia and hookworms.

What are the symptoms of severe anemia? Iron deficiency or menstrual bleeding can cause a mild anemia, accompanied by the symptoms such as weakness, fatigue and pallor. If anemia is due to major blood loss, then it results in sever anemia. Fatigue and weakness are the main symptoms of severe anemia due to low hemoglobin. Some of the signs and symptoms of severe anemia are:

• Pale skin
• Shortness of breath
• Fast heartbeat
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Chest pain
• Cognitive problems
• Coldness or numbness in the extremities
• Loss of appetite
• Impaired memory
• Sore tongue
• Diarrhea
• Weight loss

In case of aplastic anemia, due to low numbers of red blood cells, a person looks pale and feels weak or tired and shortness of breath. Due to low white blood cell count, there are frequent or severe infections. Decreased number of platelets can lead to easy bruising or bleeding and small red spots under the skin. In case of severe anemia, bleeding or infections can be life threatening.