---------
Home Remedies What is anemia

What is Anemia and How to Deal With It?

Anemia is not a disease. It is a condition that shows below-normal levels of red blood cells in the blood. It is important to understand the underlying cause of anemia because; anemia can be very simple temporary to life threatening condition.

So What is Anemia and Its Implications?

Let us begin with understanding the function of blood. Blood is actually a mixture of plasma (the fluid parts) and cells (the solid parts). The mixture gets its red color comes from the cells called erythrocytes found in the blood,

An average healthy person has approximately 5 million red cells in every cubic millimeter of blood. The life span of a red blood cell varies between 90 and 120 days. In young children marrow in all the bones in body produce red blood cells. As an individual ages the spine, ribs, and pelvis are the only bone marrows which produce red blood cells. Iron is responsible for production of red blood cells. Old blood cells are removed from the body by liver and spleen. The iron returns to the bone marrow to produce new red blood cells.


Each red blood cell contains a protein called hemoglobin.  The function of hemoglobin is to carry oxygen through the body. The hemoglobin level is normally different in males and females. A person is called anemic if hemoglobin levels fall below certain levels. Depending on the methods use in laboratory these limits are set. In the most common method anemia is typically defined as hemoglobin level of men fall below 13.5 gram/100ml and hemoglobin levels of women fall below 12.0 gram/100ml.

Learn more about causes, symptoms, types and home remedies for anemia in the other related articles:

Other related articles