Hemolytic Anemia

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is it?

• Blood is made of plasma (liquid) and blood cells. The three types of blood cells are white blood cells (WBCs), platelets, and red blood cells (RBCs). WBCs help your body to fight infection (in-FEK-shun) and platelets help to stop bleeding. RBCs carry oxygen to all areas of your body so you can grow and stay healthy. RBCs normally live for about 120 days before they die. Then your bone marrow makes new RBCs to replace the ones that died.
  
  
• Hemolytic (hee-moh-LIT-ik) anemia (ah-NEE-mee-uh) is a problem with the red blood cells (RBCs) in your blood. A person with hemolytic anemia has RBCs that are destroyed or die sooner than they are supposed to. The bone marrow cannot make new RBCs fast enough to replace the ones that died or were destroyed. Hemolytic anemia can be a short- or long-term problem. It can develop quickly or slowly over time.

What causes hemolytic anemia? There are many causes of hemolytic anemia. Your hemolytic anemia may be caused by:

• A disease you were born with, such as sickle cell anemia or thalassemia (thal-ah-SEE-mee-ah).
  
  
• Certain medicines, such as antibiotics (an-ti-bi-OT-iks), anti-malaria medicine, or acetaminophen (a-seet-a-MIN-oh-fen).
  
  
• Being exposed to certain chemicals, such as arsenic and lead.
  
  
• Autoimmune disorders. The immune system is the body's way of fighting infections (in-FEK-shuns) caused by germs. An autoimmune diorder happens when your body attacks itself. Examples of autoimmune medical conditions are rheumatoid (ROO-ma-toid) arthritis (ahr-THREYE-tis) and lupus.
  
  
• Having an organ transplant, such as a kidney or liver.
  
  
• Having a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant, or a blood transfusion (trans-FU-zhun).
  
  
• Having an artificial device, such as a heart valve, or having dialysis (deye-AL-i-sis).
  
  
• Infections, such as "fifth disease", mononucleosis (mon-oh-noo-klee-OH-sis), or hepatitis (hep-ah-TEYE-tis).
  
  
• Leukemia (loo-KEE-mee-ah) or lymphoma (lim-FOH-mah). These are types of cancer.

What are the signs and symptoms of hemolytic anemia?

• Fatigue (feeling tired) and weakness.
  
  
• Dizzy or confused (cannot think clearly).
  
  
• Fever.
  
  
• Breathing problems when exercising.
  
  
• Very fast or fluttering (irregular) heartbeat.
  
  
• Your skin, nails, and whites of your eyes may be paler than usual.
  
  
• Jaundice (JAWN-dis), which is yellow skin and eyes, and dark urine. You may get jaundice if your hemolytic anemia is very bad.
  
  
• Kidney failure.
  
  
• Spleen or liver that grow too large. These are body organs inside your abdomen (belly).

How is hemolytic anemia diagnosed?

• You will have a medical exam and blood tests. You may also have a bone marrow biopsy (BEYE-op-see), but this is not commonly done. During a bone marrow biopsy, a needle is put into your hip bone. A small amount of bone marrow (spongy, red center of the bone) is taken out. Caregivers will look at the bone marrow under a microscope (MI-kroh-skohp).
  
  
• You may have tests such as a chest x-ray or electrocardiogram (ee-lek-troh-KAHR-dee-oh-gram) (ECG). These may be done to help caregivers see how your heart and lungs are handling your anemia. You may need an ultrasound, which is a test that uses sound waves to see inside your body. This can help caregivers see how your spleen, liver, or other organs are handling your anemia.

How is hemolytic anemia treated? Your treatment will depend on what caused your hemolytic anemia and how it is affecting your body. It will depend upon other things, such as your tests results, age, and health. Medicines or treatments, such as cancer treatments may be stopped if they are causing your hemolytic anemia. You may get medicines to treat the health problem that is causing your hemolytic anemia. You may need medicines or treatments to help your bone marrow make more blood cells. You may get blood transfusions (trans-FU-zhuns). You may need surgery to remove your spleen.

Where can I go for support? You and those close to you may be scared, confused, and anxious because you have hemolytic anemia. Talk to your caregivers, family, or friends about your feelings. For more information call or write the following organization:

• National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
  Health Information Center
  P.O. Box 30105
  Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
  Phone: 1-301-592-8573
  Web Address: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/infoctr/index.htm
  

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

Link to Page

Print Page

Email Page