Feeling Low?
Anemia is the abnormally low amount of circulating: (name 3 components)
What are RBCs, HGB, HCT.
In this most common type of anemia worldwide, the bone marrow produces microcytic and hypochromic red blood cells because it lacks this specific mineral required to synthesize hemoglobin.
What is iron deficiency anemia?
Which food is not high in iron? Cream of Wheat, Molasses, Apricots, or Steel-Cut Oats
This classification of anemia is typically caused by a deficiency in folate or B12, which impairs DNA synthesis and results in abnormally large, immature RBCs.
What is macrocytic anemia?
This common assessment finding in anemic patients is a compensatory mechanism to maintain cardiac output when hemoglobin is low.
What is tachycardia?
A nurse performing a physical exam on a patient with severe anemia might observe this sign in the conjunctiva or mucous membranes, caused by reduced blood flow to the skin and a lack of oxygenated hemoglobin.
What is Pallor?
This specific condition occurs when the body's immune system attacks gastric parietal cells, leading to a lack of intrinsic factor and preventing the absorption of Vitamin B12 in the terminal ileum.
What is pernicious anemia?
Often referred to as the 'blood builder,' this B vitamin is essential for DNA synthesis in red blood cells, and its deficiency can lead to megaloblastic anemia, where the marrow produces abnormally large, immature cells.
What is folate?
Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) often develop anemia because their failing kidneys stop producing this specific hormone, which is responsible for stimulating the bone marrow to create new red blood cells.
What is Erythropoietin?
This specific hemoglobin threshold is the 'magic number' where a transfusion is typically recommended for stable, non-symptomatic patients to avoid the risks of volume overload.
What is 7 g/dL?
Often seen in patients with chronic iron deficiency, this symptom involves a compulsive desire to eat non-food items such as ice, dirt, or clay.
What is PICA?
In this life-threatening 'pancytopenic' condition, the body’s hematopoietic stem cells are damaged or destroyed, resulting in a failure of the bone marrow to produce not just red blood cells, but also white blood cells and platelets.
What is aplastic anemia?
While it isn't iron itself, this antioxidant vitamin found in citrus must be consumed alongside plant-based foods to convert non-heme iron into a form the body can actually absorb.
What is Vitamin C?
While their origins range from surgical trauma and GI bleeds to heavy menorrhagia, these three conditions are all clinical examples of this specific category of anemia.
What is acute blood loss anemia?
This medication is often administered to be given when multiple units of PRBCs are orderedto prevent TACO?
What is furosemide?
When iron is not being actively used to transport oxygen, it is kept in this 'safety deposit' protein found in the liver, which serves as the body's primary long-term storage form of the mineral.
What is ferritin?
This hereditary disorder involves a point mutation in the beta-globin chain, causing hemoglobin to polymerize under hypoxic conditions and transform red blood cells into a rigid, crescent shape that occludes capillaries.
What is sickle cell anemia?
This essential trace element is necessary for proper iron absorption; without enough of it, the body may struggle to process iron from the intestines, potentially leading to anemia.
Calculated by dividing hemoglobin by hematocrit, this lab value measures the average concentration of hemoglobin in a given volume of red blood cells, helping to distinguish between hypochromic and normochromic anemias.
What is MCHC (Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration)?
This term describes the 'air hunger' or shortness of breath an anemic patient experiences during physical activity because their tissues are not receiving adequate oxygen.
What is exertional dyspnea?
Extracted from the heartwood of lignum vitae trees, this specific plant-based resin is the key component of common fecal occult blood tests, turning blue when it reacts with the peroxidase in hemoglobin.
What is guiaic?
This category of anemia is often evidenced by an elevated Reticulocyte count and increased unconjugated bilirubin levels.
What is Hemolytic Anemia?
Found in concentrated amounts in its dried variety, this stone fruit offers over 4 mg of iron per half-cup, more than double what you’d get from its fresh counterpart.
What is an apricot?
When iron stores are low, this lab value increases as the body creates more 'empty seats' on the transferrin transport proteins, signaling a high 'hunger' for iron.
What is Total Iron-Binding Capacity (or TIBC)?
In patients with severe fluid volume overload, a patient may appear anemic on a CBC due to hemodilution; this 'pseudo-anemia' occurs because this component of the blood expands more than the red cell mass.
What is Plasma Volume?