Blood is actually a liquid made up of several different cell types. One of the most important and most numerous cell types is the red blood cell. The purpose of the red blood cell is to deliver oxygen to the body. Anemia describes the condition in which the number of red blood cells in your blood is low. For this reason, doctors sometimes describe someone with anemia as having a low blood count. A person who has anemia is called anemic.
Anemia is a condition where there is a lower than normal number of red blood cells in the blood, usually measured by a decrease in the amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying part of red blood cells. It gives these blood cells their red color.
A person with anemia will feel tired and weak because the bodys tissues are being starved of oxygen. In fact, fatigue is the main symptom of most types of anemia. The severity of symptoms is in part related to the severity of anemia. Mild anemia can occur without symptoms and may be detected only during a medical exam that includes a blood test.
Anemia Symptoms
Other signs and symptoms of anemia include:
Shortness of breath Dizziness Headache Coldness in the hands and feet Pale skin Chest pain
Anemia Causes
Anemia is caused by a deficiency of Hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a pigment made up of protein and iron. Hemoglobins main job is to pick up oxygen from the lungs and deposit into the red blood cells, which in turn carries the oxygen throughout the body. Without Protein and Iron you have a loss of Hemoglobin, which means you have a lost of oxygen for the red blood cells.
Insufficient iron in the diet is the most common cause of anemia worldwide. There tends to be a lack of vitamin B12 and folic acid in the diet as well. These deficiencies are less common in North America, but still do occur. People likely to have dietary iron-deficiency anemia are infants, pregnant women, and teenagers going through a growth spurt. Slow bleeding can also cause iron-deficiency anemia.
Types of Anemia
Some types of anemia occur because the body cannot make enough hemoglobin, as is the case with iron deficiency anemia and pernicious anemia. Other types of anemia occur when the body makes sufficient hemoglobin, but it doesnt function properly.
Iron Deficiency Anemia
The body needs iron to produce the hemoglobin necessary for red blood cell production. In general, most people need just 1 milligram of iron daily. Menstruating women need double that dose.
Pernicious Anemia
Anemia due to deficiency of Vitamin B12, known as Pernicious Anemia This is less common, generally affects people over 40 and results due to Vitamin B12 deficiency.
Sickle cell anemia
Sickle cell anemia is a serious blood disorder and is characterized by the red blood cells taking a crescent sickle shape. It is a hereditary chronic condition. It is caused by the presence of an abnormal type of hemoglobin in the red blood cells and is passed via genetic factors from parents to children.
Dog diarrhea is one of the more common of conditions in the dog world and in the human world alike; the reason for this is because there are so many causes of diarrhea. It can be a dreadful condition for your dog to have and causes a lot of unwanted aggravation for the canine involved as well as increasing the risk of having unwanted accidents on carpets and furniture around the house.
There can be many causes for diarrhea but the most common is due to intolerances to a particular food, this is normally because of a change in diet or the dog having a particular food that they have not had before. Diarrhea can also be caused by other conditions like objects stuck in the digestive system or several other conditions derived or caused by problems in the digestive system of the dog.
The symptoms of this can be many things but diarrhea is normally coupled with your dog vomiting or retching this is because the digestive system of the dog begins at the mouth and ends at the anus as you might think, if the problem causing the diarrhea is in the stomach or upper intestines then the effects may be vomiting as well as or without diarrhea. This coincidently also acts as a way of finding the condition to help the vet. And if the problem is in the lower intestines then the symptoms will most probably be diarrhea only, but there may be other causes and this is not a confirmation to the vet that the problem is in the lower part of the digestive system.
From this situation there are many different ways that may work to improve and cure the health problems and diarrhea that your dog may be feeling. The first that is usually performed by the veterinarian in question is changing the dog's diet so that no food is given to the dog for at least twenty four hours so the body has enough time to clear all the offending substances within so the dog's body can return to normal. After this the dog should then be put on a very bland diet of and put gradually onto a more flavoured diet to avoid the same problem again.
All the information in this article is only a guideline as you may have guessed and if your dog is having serious diarrhea the vet should be contacted for a proper check-up and diagnosis of he condition in hand.
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