Essay --

A very common nutritional disease is anemia. Anemia is a condition that can develop when a person’s body lacks healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the way red blood cells receive oxygen. Four percent of the children in the United States between three and five years old are anemic. Anemia can run in families and it can be passed down through generations and it can affect your whole life. On a positive note anemia can be treated and those with this nutritional disease can live regular lives. Cause of Anemia Anemia has three main causes. The most common cause of anemia is blood loss. Anemic women usually lose a large amount of blood with heavy menstrual cycles. When blood is coming from the digestive or urinary tract blood can also be lost. Surgeries and caner also can cause blood loss. If a large amount of blood is lost the body may lose a lot of red blood cells causing anemia. Another cause is when red blood cells can’t be produced. You can inherit having a small amount of red blood cells, meaning your parents passed the disease to you. Or having few red blood cells can be acquired, which means you weren’t born with the disease. You can acquire anemia by having a poor diet, having off balance hormone levels, having an ongoing diseases, or pregnancy. Lastly if a person has a red blood cell destruction can cause anemia. If too many red blood cells are destroyed you are still losing red bloods cells. This can happen if someone has an enlarged or diseased spleen. The spleen removes old red blood cells out of the body. If the spleen is enlarged or diseased, it could remove more red blood cells than necessary which would lead to having anemia. Also if too many red blood cells are destroyed that can lead to sickle cell ... ...ies which will decrease their amount of physical activity Conclusion Anemia is a condition that can develop in anyone of any age. It can range from being minor or warning signs of something more serious. When a person lacks enough healthy red blood cells anemia can occur. Anemia can be treated with medication and changes in one’s diet. References Nordqvist, C. (2009). What Is Anemia? What Causes Anemia? .MedicalNewsToday.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ 158800.php Edmundson, A. (2013, May 13). Understanding Anemia - the Basics. WebMD.com. Retrieved December14, 2013, from http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-anemia basics (N.A.). (2012, May 18). What Causes Anemia?. nhlbi.nih.gov. Retrieved December14, 2013, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/anemia/causes.html