What is Nutritional Anemia?
The term nutritional anemia is used for to describe the type of anemia caused by decreased intake (deficiency) of a nutrient/s that has a role in hemoglobin synthesis or red blood cell formation or which may be gradually corrected by administration of such a nutrient. Nutritional anemia may develop under many circumstances:-
- Increased demand as in the case of pregnancy, lactation, rapid growth etc
- Decreased intake of a nutrient as in the case of :-
- Poor dietary habits( reliance on cereal based monotonous diet)
- Food faddism( being a complete vegetarian or vegan)
- Decreased absorption of a nutrient from food
- GIT abnormalities(Achlorhydria, resection gastric parietal cells, resection of large segment of the small intestine or terminal ileum)
- Interference of factors in the food with the absorption of nutrients( e.g. Phytate, polyphenoles, tannins on iron)
- Parasites sharing the nutrient(e.g. Diphyllobotyrium latum sucking B12 in the small intestine)
4. Chronic blood loss resulting in iron deficiency( e.g. in hook worm and schistosoma infection)