Discussion – Anemia
Anemia is a condition associated with reduced red blood cell count or reduced hemoglobin level that can be diagnosed using laboratory tests. They include MCH, MCV, RDW, reticulocyte count, serum ferritin, TIBC, and serum iron levels. MCH informs about the hemoglobin content in the red blood cells, while MCV indicates the size of the cells, which helps diagnose various types of anemia (Alder & Tambe, 2023). An RDW greater than the normal range implies that the size of red blood cells is not uniform, which points to a problem in manufacturing red blood cells or their development. The reticulocyte count determines how much the bone marrow has reacted to anemia by providing new red blood cells. Serum ferritin is an index of iron stores, and TIBC indicates the ability of serum to bind iron with transferrin. Serum iron describes the real concentration of iron in the bloodstream.
Knowledge of these values is crucial in distinguishing between conditions such as iron deficiency anemia, thalassemia, and anemia of chronic disease. Iron deficiency anemia is characterized by low serum iron, low ferritin, high TIBC, and high RDW due to inadequate iron stores for the synthesis of hemoglobin (Yang et al., 2023). Thalassemia is a genetic disorder with microcytic anemia, normal to high levels of iron and ferritin, and normal TIBC to low (Bajwa & Basit, 2023). Anemia of chronic disease is characterized by low serum iron and low TIBC but normal or elevated serum ferritin due to the iron-sparing mechanism resulting from chronic disease.
Management of IDA includes iron therapy and the identification and correction of causes of iron depletion (Warner & Kamran, 2020). Ferrous sulfate is usually taken orally, but in more severe cases, the patient may require intravenous iron. It is also important to increase the intake of iron-containing foods and vitamin C to increase the bioavailability of iron. In particular, it concerns anemia and its management by frequent monitoring of the hematologic parameters.
References
Alder, L., & Tambe, A. (2023, August 17). Acute anemia. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537232/
Bajwa, H., & Basit, H. (2023, August 8). Thalassemia. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545151/
Warner, M. J., & Kamran, M. T. (2020). Iron deficiency anemia. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28846348/
Yang, J., Li, Q., Feng, Y., & Zeng, Y. (2023). Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia: Potential risk factors in bone loss. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(8), 6891. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24086891
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Discussion Prompt
Answer one of the two questions:
1. Which labs indicate that your patient is anemic? Explain the significance of the following values: MCH, MCV, RDW, reticulocyte count, serum ferritin, TIBC, and serum iron.
2. Explain the difference between iron deficiency anemia, thalassemia, and anemia of chronic disease. Briefly describe the treatment for one of these conditions.
Discussion – Anemia
Expectations
Initial Post:
• Length: A minimum of 250 words, not including references
• Citations: At least one high-level scholarly reference in APA from within the last 5 years
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