Blood Disorders List

Anemia is defined by the World Health Organization as hemoglobin (Hgb) less than 13 g/dL in adult men and less than 12 g/dL in adult non-pregnant women.

About 30% of adult non-pregnant women, 12% of adult men, and 24% of the elderly are anemic.

1. Anemia of Chronic Disease

Anemia of chronic disease, also known as anemia of chronic inflammation, is caused primarily by infections, autoimmune disorders, chronic renal insufficiency, and malignancies (both hematologic and solid tumors).

It is the most prevalent cause of anemia in hospitalized patients and the second most common cause after iron deficiency anemia.

2. Iron Deficiency Anemia

The most common cause of anemia worldwide is iron deficiency anemia, which results in microcytic and hypochromic red cells on the peripheral smear.

Age, gender, and socioeconomic status all play a role in determining the cause of iron deficiency anemia.

This can be due to an insufficient iron intake, decreased iron absorption, or blood loss, among other causes.

According to research, there is a link between menstruation and iron deficiency anemia. In women of childbearing age in the United States, the rate of iron deficiency anemia is 10% due to menstrual losses.

Iron deficiency anemia and anxiety were linked together and researchers found that iron deficiency was also correlated to other psychiatric disorders.

3. Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a multisystem disorder that affects one in every 500 African Americans and is the most common genetic disease in the United States.

Approximately one in every twelve African Americans carries the autosomal recessive mutation, and approximately 300,000 infants are born with sickle cell anemia each year.

Sickle cell disease is caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin beta chain that replaces glutamic acid with valine at position six on chromosome 11.

The most common monogenic disorder is sickle cell anemia.

The disease is prevalent among people in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

It is estimated that there are approximately 100,000 people in the United States who have sickle cell disease, and this number is expected to grow.

4. Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Antiplatelet antibodies and immune platelet destruction characterize immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

The disorder has been described as preferring young women over men.

Early platelet kinetic studies were consistent with reduced platelet survival as the primary abnormality in ITP, and bone marrow megakaryocytes appear morphologically and quantitatively normal.

It affects both children and adults at a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 per year.

5. Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a broad term for a variety of neoplasms that arise from the lymphopoietic system.

It is divided into two groups: Hodgkin disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hodgkin disease (HD) is characterized by large polynuclear Reed-Sternberg cells.

B-cell and T-cell lymphomas are subtypes of NHL.

NHL is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, with an estimated 55,000 new cases in the year 2000.

North America, Australia, and Western Europe all have higher NHL incidence rates than do South America and Asia. However, the increase in incidence is consistent across all countries.

6. Aplastic Anemia

Aplastic anemia is a syndrome of chronic primary hematopoietic failure caused by injury leading to diminished or absent hematopoietic precursors in the bone marrow and attendant pancytopenia.

The idiopathic cause is the most common and accounts for 65%. The most common hereditary cause is Fanconi anemia.

Pancytopenia, organ hypoplasia, and bone defects such as abnormal radii, absent thumbs, and short stature appear in the late first decade.

The male-to-female ratio is approximately one-to-one. Aplastic anemia affects people of all ages, but there is a small peak in the incidence in childhood. A second peak is found in the age group of 20 to 25 years old.

7. Megaloblastic Anemia

Megaloblastic anemia (MA) is a heterogeneous group of anemias characterized by the presence of large red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow, which are referred to as megaloblasts.

Megaloblastic erythroid precursors are larger than normal and their nuclei are larger and appear immature with granular chromatin.

The most common causes of megaloblastic anemia are vitamin B12 or folate deficiencies within a long list that includes deficiency of other micronutrients, congenital disorders, myelodysplastic syndromes, and acquired DNA synthesis defects seen during chemotherapy.