Anaemia, which literally means "without blood," is a lack of red blood cells and/or haemoglobin. This results in a reduced ability of blood to transfer oxygen to the tissues. Anaemia is the most common disorder of the blood.

The three main causes of anaemia include excessive blood loss (haemorrhage), excessive red blood cell destruction (haemolysis) or deficient red blood cell production.  Anaemia is most of the time undetected in many people. The most common symptom people report is a feeling of weakness or fatigue.

Diagnosing anaemia is with a blood test. Generally, a full blood count is done.

Iron Deficiency Anaemia
This is the most common form of anaemia. Iron deficiency anaemia is caused when the dietary intake or absorption of iron is insufficient. Iron is an essential part of haemoglobin, and low iron levels result in decreased incorporation of haemoglobin into red blood cells.

Normocytic anaemia
Normocytic anaemia can be caused by acute blood loss, chronic disease or failure to produce enough red blood cells. Chronic renal failure or liver failure cause normocytic anaemia.

Macrocytic anaemia
The most common cause of macrocytic anaemia is megaloblastic anaemia due to a deficiency of either vitamin B12 or folic acid (or both) due either to inadequate intake or insufficient absorption. Pernicious anaemia is an autoimmune condition where the body lacks intrinsic factor, required to absorb vitamin B12 from food.

Anaemia during pregnancy
Anaemia affects 20% of all females of childbearing age. Because of the subtleness of the symptoms, women are often unaware that they have this disorder, as they attribute the symptoms to the stresses of their daily lives. Possible problems for the foetus include increased risk of growth retardation, prematurity, intrauterine death, rupture of the amnion and infection.

During pregnancy, women should be especially aware of the symptoms of anaemia, as an adult female loses an average of two milligrams of iron daily. Therefore, she must intake a similar quantity of iron in order to make up for this loss. Additionally, a woman loses approximately 500 milligrams of iron with each pregnancy, compared to a loss of 4-100 milligrams of iron with each period.

Diet and anaemia
Consumption of food rich in iron is essential to prevention of iron deficiency anaemia. These foods include red meat; green, leafy vegetables; dried beans; dried apricots, prunes, raisins, and other dried fruits; almonds; seaweeds; parsley; whole grains; and yams. Certain foods have been found to interfere with iron absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, and these foods should be avoided. They include tea, coffee, wheat bran, spinach, rhubarb, chocolate, soft drinks.

How can an Eatatease Dietitian help?
There are many different treatments for anaemia, including monitoring food intake and iron supplementation.
AnEatatease Dietitian can help you to learn which foods you should be eating to keep your Anaemia at bay. An e-consultation offers a comprehensive dietary review undertaken by a UK registered Dietitian.

Get PERSONALLY tailored diet advice about anaemia from one of our registered dietitians!