Anaemia2025-06-16T13:54:41+01:00

Anaemia

Anaemia is a common condition where your body lacks enough healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin to transport sufficient oxygen to your body’s tissues, leaving you feeling tired, weak, or short of breath. It can impact your quality of life, making even simple daily activities challenging.

Anaemia Overview

Understanding Causes, Symptoms, and Risk Factors

Causes

  • Iron Deficiency: Most common cause, often due to insufficient dietary iron, blood loss, or pregnancy.
  • Vitamin Deficiency: Lack of essential vitamins like B12 and folate, necessary for healthy red blood cell formation.
  • Chronic Diseases: Kidney disease, inflammatory diseases, or cancer interfering with red blood cell production.
  • Inherited Blood Disorders: Conditions like sickle cell anaemia or thalassaemia.

Symptoms

  • Fatigue or persistent tiredness
  • Pale or sallow skin
  • Shortness of breath, especially during physical activities
  • Dizziness or feeling faint
  • Increased heart rate or palpitations
  • Headaches
  • Cold hands and feet

Risk Factors

Low intake of iron-rich foods (such as red meat, leafy greens, fortified cereals) or vitamin-rich foods (vitamin B12, folate).

Women of childbearing age, especially with heavy periods, are more susceptible. Pregnancy increases demand for iron and vitamins.

Older adults are at higher risk due to nutritional deficiencies or chronic conditions.

Conditions like Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic kidney disease, or cancer can lead to anaemia.

Inherited conditions like sickle cell anaemia or thalassaemia increase risk.

Can Anaemia be prevented?

While not all types of anaemia can be prevented, particularly those due to inherited conditions, many common forms—such as iron-deficiency or vitamin-deficiency anaemia—can be significantly reduced or prevented through simple lifestyle changes:

Balanced Diet – Eating iron-rich foods, including lean meats, beans, lentils, spinach, fortified cereals, and nuts can help maintain healthy iron levels.
Vitamin Intake – Ensuring sufficient consumption of vitamin B12 (found in meat, fish, eggs, and dairy) and folate-rich foods (leafy greens, nuts, and fortified cereals) supports healthy blood production.
Vitamin C – Consuming vitamin C-rich foods like oranges, berries, and bell peppers alongside meals improves iron absorption.
Regular Health Checks – Routine blood tests can identify deficiencies early, preventing anaemia from developing.

How Chequers can help Diagnose and Treat

IV Iron Infusion

Patient having an iron infusion by a clinician

A faster, effective treatment for iron deficiency anaemia

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    Frequently Asked Questions

    You will need to come into clinic for a short period of time before the infusion, for the duration of the infusion and you will then be asked to stay for further monitoring for about 30 minutes after the infusion.

    Oral iron is used initially to treat iron deficiency anaemia. Sometimes this does not produce enough of an improvement, or it may be that your doctor needs to replenish your iron quickly. Intravenous iron is used when oral iron has been tried or if it is not suitable and it helps to reduce the use of blood transfusions.

    Intravenous iron is an extremely safe and effective therapy. Some of the side effects that have been reported are:

    1. Staining – If your cannula was to displace from your vein during treatment the drug could be deposited in your skin rather than into your bloodstream. This could result in a brown stain to the skin. If you notice pain at the injection site during your treatment, please inform the nurse caring for you immediately. This will minimise any such risk.
    2. Change in total body skin colour – This is an extremely rare occurrence. It has been reported that some patients noted their skin to become darker (like a suntan) for a period of weeks after treatment with intravenous iron. This was not permanent and resolved after several weeks.
    3. Allergy – historically intravenous iron preparations carried a risk of allergy (ranging from a mild reaction like itchy skin through to anaphylaxis that could be life threatening). With today’s modern iron preparation this is uncommon (1 in a 100 to 1 in a 1000 risk). Please inform the nurse caring for you immediately if you experience any of the following during your treatment (swelling of lips, tongue, face or throat, shortness of breath, itching, a feeling of all over body heat, heart racing heat or faint like symptoms)
    4. Delayed reaction – Although uncommon, some patients may experience muscle or joint pains and fever in the days after treatment. This usually lasts two to four days and can be managed with simple painkillers like paracetamol Iron infusions are commonly used after the first trimester in pregnancy. It is important that you also read the patient information leaflet for the product.

    Your anaemia/ low blood count is expected to improve.

    No.

    If you are taking oral iron, you should stop this the day before you come into our clinic for your Iron Infusion.

    Within our treatment room at our Bolton Health Centre.

    You may rarely experience muscle or joint pains; these can be managed with simple painkillers such as paracetamol.

    Simple painkillers for any joint pain can be taken when you go home following your completed monitoring period at our clinic.

    It is not anticipated that your iron infusion will affect your ability to undertake your usual activities.

    Your nurse will let you know if you need to come back for a further infusion in about a weeks’ time and they may advise you at this time regarding any blood tests that are needed.

    It is not anticipated that your iron infusion will affect your ability to undertake your usual activities.

    If left unaddressed, iron deficiency can have significant long-term health consequences. Beyond the fatigue and discomfort it causes, untreated iron deficiency can severely impact your quality of life, affecting daily activities, work productivity, and general well-being. It’s crucial to identify and manage iron deficiency before it progresses to more severe forms, such as anaemia.

    Although you consent for this treatment, you may at any time after that withdraw such consent. Please discuss this with your medical team.

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