In a short essay (500-750 words), answer the Question at the end of Case Study 1. Cite references to support your positions.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Anemia: Case Study
Anemia is a condition whereby the body lacks enough erythrocytes. Anemia affects general body functioning (Goroll and Mulley, 2012). Anything that interferes with the health production of Red Blood Cells and that of hemoglobin results to Anemia (Goroll and Mulley, 2012). It is a condition that occurs due to the inability of proper and adequate transmission of Oxygen throughout the body tissues; a task that is carried out by hemoglobin (Dodson, 2008), which is also carried by Red Blood Cells. Sometimes it can be a symptom of a serious illness; especially the one that deprives the body of blood (Goroll and Mulley, 2012). People who suffer from Anemia are usually weak just like in the case of Mrs. A. There are different types of Anemia depending on their causes and this is what dictates the nature of their treatments.
Mrs. A’s Case
Incase of Mrs. A, the symptoms she shown portrays that she is suffering from Iron-deficiency Anemia. It is a type of Anemia that is caused by lack of iron in the body (Dodson, 2008). Iron is a very important mineral in the body. It is responsible for the synthesis if hemoglobin by the body. No Red Blood Cells or hemoglobin can be healthy with the lack of Iron (Huch, and Schaefer, 2006). In addition, hemoglobin is the substance of the blood that carries oxygen through the cells in the tissues of the body.
When she went to the hospital and ran some tests, the doctor established that other blood conditions were normal. In the golf field, she exhibited symptoms that clearly indicated that she lacks the significant energy levels the body requires to attain the normal functioning. The laboratory tests observation indicated that even though other blood conditions would be normal, her body was incapable of delivering the adequate amounts on energy (Huch, and Schaefer, 2006). The only rational and logical reason here is that her body tissue lacked the significant levels of respiration and hence metabolism, which are responsible for the production of energy. Body metabolism requires oxygen that burns the cellular food in the Organelle mitochondria to produce energy.
Food nutrients and oxygen are both passed or transported to the body cells by blood (Dodson, 2008). Even though there could be enough food substance in the body, lack of oxygen would still result to low energy levels since it is required for the food particles to respire and release energy. This is the reason she had short breaths while in the golf fields. She needed to inhale more oxygen to attain the level needed by the body but this could not be accomplished since there was no enough hemoglobin in her blood to carry this oxygen to the body cells to release energy to the tissues. The fundamental mineral needed for the production of blood and hemoglobin by the body is iron. This is why her situation is rationally explained as that of iron-deficiency Anemia (Huch, and Schaefer, 2006).
Another observation made o prove this is the increased intensity of her symptoms during menstruation. Menstruation causes a lot of blood loss, and is one of the periods when women need iron the most for the production of the lost blood and hemoglobin (Dodson, 2008). The situation even got worst during menstruation as it deprives the body even more blood and iron, including hemoglobin. Given her situation, she is bound to suffer more during menstruation.
References
Dodson, G. H. (2008). Total Iron in Selected Genotypes of Spinach and Cowpeas and the In vitro Bioavailability of Selected Spinach Genotypes. New York: ProQuest.
Goroll, H. A. and Mulley, G. A. (2012). Primary Care Medicine: Office Evaluation and Management of the Adult Patient. London: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Huch, R. and Schaefer, R. (2006). Iron-deficiency and Iron-deficiency Anemia: Pocket Atlas Special. New York: Georg Thieme Verlag.