Anaemia (types)

There are many types of anaemia:

Most common

• Iron deficient anaemia (where iron is required as a supplement)
• Folic acid deficient anaemia (where folic acid is required as a supplement)
• Vitamin B12 anaemia [where vitamin b12 (hydroxocobalamin) as a supplement is required]

Aplastic anaemia

• Disease of the bone marrow
  • Acquired Pure Red Cell Aplasia
  • Diamond Blackfan anemia
  • Dyskeratosis congenita
• Slapped Cheek Syndrome (Fifth Disease, Erythema Infectiosum)
• Bone cancer
• Primary myelofibrosis
• Leukaemia
• Multiple myeloma
• McKusick type metaphyseal chondrodysplasia
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Polycythemia Vera
• Chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy affecting the bone marrow
• Dubowitz syndrome (narrow or triangle-shaped face with a high or sloping forehead, eczema, vision problems)

Hemolytic anaemia

When red blood cells are destroyed to quickly examples include:

• Cold agglutinin disease
• Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia
• Enlarged and overactive spleen which can trap circulating red blood cells and destroy them before they are old.
• Evans syndrome
• Hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia
  • G6PD deficiency
  • Pyruvate kinase deficiency
• Hereditary spherocytosis
• Liver disease (Enlarged liver)
• Kidney disease
• Primary distal renal tubular acidosis
• Low phosphate levels
• Babesiosis
• Carrión’s disease
• Red blood cells have an abnormally short life span i.e. body’s immune system mistakenly destroys its own red blood cells (autoimmune disease)
• Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome
• Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon (related to blood tumours)
• Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
• Paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria
• Phosphoglycerate kinase deficiency
• Triosephosphate isomerase deficiency
• Abnormal red blood cells:
  • Atransferrinemia
  • Sickle cell anaemia
  • Thalassemia
  • Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
  • Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency (lack of enzyme: G6PD) this occur if certain food (fava beans), chemicals (mothball fumes, henna)and medication
  • Neuroacanthocytosis (rapid, involuntary, purposeless movements, especially of the face, arms and legs)
  • Antimalarials i.e. Chloroquine, Pamaquine, Primaquine, Quinidine. Quinine.
    • Sulfonamides (medication used for treating conditions including infections)
    • Quinolones (antibiotics)
    • Aspirin and/or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs)
    • Chloramphenicol (antibiotic)
    • Colchicine (gout medication)
    • Diaminodiphenyl sulfone
    • Diphenhydramine (antihistamine)
    • Glyburide
    • Isoniazid
    • L-Dopa.
    • Methylene blue.
    • Nitrofurantoin (antibiotic)
    • Phenazopyridine
    • Rasburicase (treats tumor lysis syndrome)
    • Tripelennamine
    • Vitamin K
  • Glutathione synthetase deficiency
  • Hereditary elliptocytosis (inherited blood disorder in which an abnormally large number of the person’s red blood cells are elliptical rather than the typical biconcave disc shape)
  • Hereditary spherocytosis (inherited condition where there is the presence of spherocytes in the blood which are abnormal red blood cells that are sphere-shaped rather than normal biconcave disc shape)
• Red blood cells are normal but are destroyed by surgery , artificial heart valves tumours, severe burns.
• Wolman’s disease
• Infections:
  • Schistosomiasis
  • Malaria
  • Snake or spider venom
  • Whipple disease
• Medication causing anaemia
• Medication making immune system weak

Megaloblastic anaemia

• Condition in which the bone marrow produces unusually large, structurally abnormal, immature red blood cells (megaloblasts) and this cause a lack of folic acid and/or vitamin B12, hence further tests are required to differentiate from other forms of anaemia especially pernicious anemia which is a lack of vitamin b12.
• These blood cells are very slow moving have low amount of haemoglobin  and not as many of the red blood cells are produced resulting in anaemia.
• Hereditary spherocytosis
• If untreated in infants it can lead to:
  • Hereditary orotic aciduria
• Tropical Sprue

• A unit called femtoliters (fL) is used to measure the size of blood cells. Usually, red blood cells are between 80–100 fL.
• Red blood cells larger than 100 fL are considered macrocytic.

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Long term disease

Examples include:

• Blood vessel disorders
• Blood disorders
• Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Crohn’s disease
• Stomach ulcer
• Ulcerative colitis
• Food Intolerance disease (celiac disease)
• Pancreatitis
• Haemorrhoids (long term)
• Hypothyroidism
• Kidney disease
• Lupus
• Malabsorption conditions
• Myelodysplastic syndromes
• Oesophagitis
• Pregnancy
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Sarcoidosis
• Schistosomiasis
• Blood loss conditions of any sort i.e. Endometriosis

Others

• Alcohol abuse
• Castleman Disease
• Exposure to toxic chemicals; Lead poisoning
• Vitamin A Deficiency