Microcytic Anaemia
Microcytic anaemia means that the red blood cells are smaller than usual. They may also be paler - called hypochromic. This is a result of problems either with the Iron supply (through dietary deficiency, through loss which may be a result of heavy periods or unnoticed bleeding into the urine or the bowel, or because of lack of availability in association with other disease processes). Under normal circumstances a red blood cell lasts for 120 days. We lose Iron by losing cells from skin and the mucosal lining of the gut.
Adult men need about one milligram a day, menstruating women need two to three milligrams, while in pregnancy the level is three to four milligrams. The Iron available from red meat is more readily absorbed than the Iron available in vegetables, which needs other agents such as Vitamin C to increase its solubility. Microcytic anaemia also arises as a result of problems with the formation of the protein part of the haemoglobin, such as occurs in thalassaemia, when the Iron levels are normal.
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