Hemolytic anemia

Erythrocytes, or red blood cells, are blood cells that are responsible primarily for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of other organs, as well as for removing carbon dioxide from the human body. Hemolytic anemia is a very dangerous condition of the body, which is associated primarily with a breakdown in the structure of red blood cells and their premature death.

Hemolytic anemia: causes

In modern medicine, it is common to distinguish two main groups of similar diseases - congenital and acquired forms of the disease. Congenital anemia is in most cases hereditary diseases that are associated with an abnormal structure of the erythrocyte wall, an uncharacteristic composition, or the shape of these cells. As for acquired diseases of this kind, they arise as a result of the influence of a number of environmental factors.

For example, acquired hemolytic anemia may result from mechanical damage to red blood cells or from exposure to body antibodies. But most often this state develops under the influence of chemical elements, including some plant poisons and substances of animal origin.

Chemical toxins can affect the protein or lipid components of the cell wall, thereby changing the structure of red blood cells and causing their premature destruction. In addition, some substances affect the enzyme composition of red bodies, thus, the reactions inside the cell, in particular, the synthesis and modification of hemoglobin, which, in fact, is responsible for the binding of oxygen and carbon dioxide, change.

As already mentioned, sometimes red blood cells are destroyed as a result of exposure to their own antibodies - this is an autoimmune hemolytic anemia. During such illness, as a result of disruption of the immune system, the body produces antibodies that prematurely destroy their own and perfectly healthy blood cells. The most frequently acquired hemolytic anemia occurs against a background of another systemic disease.

Hemolytic anemia: symptoms and methods of diagnosis

The signs of such a disease directly depend on the form of the disease and the cause of its development. For example, hereditary forms of the disease manifest differently than those acquired. In most cases, congenital hemolytic anemia is characterized by periods of relative well-being and exacerbation of the disease, or hemolytic crisis. During such a crisis, a sick person, as a rule, feels characteristic signs of anemia - strong weakness, dizziness. In some forms there is even an increase in temperature.

Quite often, hemolytic anemia is accompanied by severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Erythrocytes are destroyed mainly in the spleen or liver. That is why in such patients the size of the spleen is significantly increased, sometimes the shape of the liver also changes. You can also note the excessive pallor of the skin . Almost all patients have jaundice, which can be either invisible or strongly pronounced.

All these symptoms are very important for the diagnosis of the disease. In addition, the form, stage of the development of the disease and its cause are determined with the help of a careful laboratory analysis of the blood of a sick person.

Methods of treatment of hemolytic anemia

The choice of method directly depends on the form of anemia. For example, in hereditary diseases, treatment is reduced to maintaining the patient's health during a crisis.

In the event that anemia is caused by poisoning ( arsenic poisoning is most often diagnosed ), the first thing to do is to completely remove toxin from the body as soon as possible. After this, the patient is prescribed treatment, which is aimed at restoring all organ systems.