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Jan 31, 2024 · A UK biobank study found increased risk of cardiovascular death up to a year-and-a-half after getting COVID in unvaccinated people. Others, including data pooled by scientists in Taiwan, show far ...
- 3 min
- Overview
- What is anemia?
- Why you can die from anemia
- What are the symptoms of anemia?
- What causes life-threatening anemia?
- How is anemia diagnosed?
- What is the treatment for serious anemia?
- Outlook for people with serious anemia?
Some types of anemia, including aplastic anemia and severe thalassemia, can potentially be life threatening. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.
Anemia is a condition where you don’t have enough healthy red blood cells, to carry oxygen throughout your body. Anemia can be temporary or long term (chronic). In many cases, it’s mild, but anemia can also be serious and life-threatening.
Anemia can happen because:
•Your body doesn’t make enough red blood cells.
•Bleeding causes you to lose red blood cells more quickly than they can be replaced.
Aplastic anemia
Aplastic anemia is when your bone marrow becomes damaged, and your body therefore stops producing new blood cells. It can be sudden or get worse over time. Common causes of aplastic anemia include •cancer treatment •exposure to toxic chemicals •pregnancy •autoimmune disorders •viral infections It can also have no known cause, which is referred to as idiopathic aplastic anemia.
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is a rare, life-threatening disease. It causes blood clots, destroys blood cells, and impairs bone marrow function. It’s a genetic condition, usually diagnosed in people who are in their 30s or 40s. Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is related to aplastic anemia. It often starts as aplastic anemia or arises after treatment for the condition.
Myelodysplastic syndromes
Myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of conditions that cause the blood-making cells in your bone marrow to become abnormal. Your bone marrow then doesn’t make enough cells, and the cells it does make are generally defective. These cells die earlier and are more likely to be destroyed by your immune system. Myelodysplastic syndromes are considered a type of cancer. They may turn into acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
Common symptoms of anemia include:
•fatigue
•cold hands and feet
•dizziness
•headache
•lightheadedness
Genetics
These are conditions that cause anemia and are inherited, which means they are passed down through one or both parents through your genes. •sickle cell •thalassemia •some hemolytic anemias •Fanconi anemia •paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Bleeding
Severe bleeding can cause sudden, short-term anemia. For example, this might happen after a traumatic injury where you lose a lot of blood.
Cancer
Cancers of the blood, lymphatic system, and bone marrow can cause anemia. Examples include: •aplastic anemia •some hemolytic anemias •myelodysplastic syndromes
First, your doctor will take your family and medical history. Then they will do a physical exam to look for symptoms of anemia. After that, your doctor will draw blood for several tests. The most common are:
•complete blood count to count the number of red blood cells and the amount of hemoglobin in your blood
•tests to look at the size and shape of your red blood cells
Once you’re diagnosed with anemia, your doctor may do more testing to see if they can find the underlying cause of anemia. For example, they might do a bone marrow test to see how well your body makes red blood cells, look for internal bleeding, or scan for tumors.
Treating severe anemia takes more than just diet and lifestyle changes, although eating a healthy diet with lots of iron can help keep you healthy.
Sometimes, treating anemia requires treating the underlying cause. Examples include:
•chemotherapy for myelodysplastic syndrome
•eculizumab (Soliris) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, which keeps your body from destroying red blood cells
•immunosuppressants for some types of aplastic anemia and hemolytic anemias
In all types of anemia, blood transfusions can help replace your lost or defective red blood cells and reduce symptoms. However, it usually does not address the underlying cause.
Anemia in general causes 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people in the United States annually. It is usually treatable if caught quickly, although some types are chronic, which means they need continual treatment.
The outlook for people with serious anemia will depend on the cause:
•Aplastic anemia. People who are younger than 40 years old with severe aplastic anemia are usually treated with a bone marrow transplant. This can cure aplastic anemia. People over 40 years old, or for whom there’s not a good bone marrow match, are usually treated with medications. These can reduce symptoms but aren’t a cure. Up to 50 percent of patients treated with drug therapy have their aplastic anemia return, or develop another, related blood disorder.
•Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. The median survival time after diagnosis of PNH is 10 years. However, new treatments can help people with this condition live to a normal life expectancy.
•Myelodysplastic syndromes. Without treatment, the median survival time for myelodysplastic syndromes range from less than a year to approximately 12 years, depending on factors such as number of chromosome abnormalities and level of red blood cells. However, treatment is often successful, especially for certain types of this condition.
•Hemolytic anemias. The outlook for hemolytic anemias depends on the underlying cause. Hemolytic anemia itself is rarely fatal, especially if treated early and properly, but the underlying conditions can be.
- Erica Hersh
1 day ago · The distress experienced by people near death is not limited to pain caused by illness or disease. Our research sheds light on the economic and political reasons dying is much harder for some.
Plane crashes, being struck by lightning, or being attacked by a dog are common fears, but what about falls, the danger inside a bottle of pills, or your drive to work? Knowing the odds is the first step in beating them. View the video for the latest odds of dying estimates.
Cause Of DeathOdds Of DyingHeart disease1 in 6Cancer1 in 7All preventable causes of death1 in 19COVID-191 in 23- 1 in 19
- 1 in 23
- 1 in 7
- 1 in 6
- Angela Morrow, RN
- Pain. Pain is a common symptom experienced near the end of life, although it can vary from person to person. Pain is not only determined by medical conditions that cause pain, like cancer or lung disease, but also by factors like emotional distress, interpersonal conflicts, and the non-acceptance of one’s own death.
- Shortness of Breath. Shortness of breath, also known as dyspnea, is one of the most common end-of-life symptoms. Even if a person doesn't have lung disease, dyspnea can occur because the organ systems of the body are interconnected.
- Anxiety. Anxiety is normal at the end of life as a person contemplates their own death or struggles through the stages of dying. This is commonly expressed as agitation, worrying, sweating, stomach upset, nausea, sleeping problems, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.
- Decreased Appetite and Thirst. As a body starts to shut down, it no longer needs as many calories and nutrition to function at such lowered levels. Although it is normal for people to refuse food and drink near the end of life—either because they have no desire for it or find the effort of eating or drinking to be too much—it can still be upsetting for families.
Estimates of the risk of all-cause and cardiac death in the 12 weeks after vaccination or positive SARS-CoV-2 test compared with subsequent weeks for people aged 12 to 29 years in England using...
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