| OCR Text |
Show Anemia May Have Various Causes If your blood has too few cells or too little. hemoglobin, you have anemia. Hemoglobin is the red coloring color-ing in the red cells. A FAVORITE self-diagnosis by people who do not feel well is anemia. Although more often than not this diagnosis is completely wrong, anemia is a serious health problem. The American Medical Association As-sociation points out that the symptoms of anemia typically include fatigue, shortness of breath, lack of energy and generally washed out feeling. HOWEVER, these symptoms symp-toms also have other causes, and their presence does not justify self-diagnosis of anemia. Anemia can have various causes - improper diet, poor absorption of food, excessive or chronic bleeding, injury to the bone marrow, certain parasites and infections. WHATEVER THE cause, it isn't safe to make your own diagnosis and to treat yourself. your-self. Only a physician can determine de-termine what is causing your anemia and can then prescribe the treatment. The function of the hemoglobin in your blood is to pick up oxygen from the air you breathe and carry it to all of your body tissues, as well as to carry carbon dioxide from these tissues to the lungs to be breathed out. ANEMIA reduces the number of red cells and the amount of hemoglobin, and the blood can't carry enough oxygen to supply your body's needs. Unless you have some ab- normal condition, you can prevent nutritional anemia by eating a variety of nourishing foods. THERE ARE all sorts of products on the market that are advertised to supplement your diet and correct nutritional nutri-tional deficiencies. None should be used unless you have been examined by a doctor and he has prescribed some particular product for your particular deficiency. OTHERWISE, the odds are great that vou are wasting your money, with the risk of overdosing yourself with more nutrients than your body needs. If you suspect that you or someone in your family is anemic, see your doctor. He will first determine whether you actually are anemic, and. if so, what is the cause. Then he will be able to prescribe treatment. |
