Is Anemia Hereditary? Its Causes And Symptoms

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By NS Desk 19-Nov-2017

Anemia is the most common blood disorder. It is a medical condition where the body has less red blood cells or a reduced quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. This leads to the low oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. The common cause of Anemia is the loss of blood. However, there are many medical reasons for Anemia which affects our body in numerous ways.

Causes of Anemia:

The red blood cells in our blood have a very vital role; they have hemoglobin which carries oxygen. The fewer red blood cells are thus a cause of concern for the heath. There are plenty of reasons which can lead to Anemia. Broadly, the causes of Anemia are categorized into three reasons:

  • Anemia due to blood loss
  • Anemia caused the expected production of less or faulty red blood cells.
  • Anemia due to destruction of red blood cells

In Ayurveda, the Anemia is known as Pandu which arises due to the various factors such as malnutrition, improper diet, worms, weak gastric fire or eating soil. These factors lead to the production of toxins known as Ama which leads to the poor nourishment of Rasa Dhatu, affecting the Rakhta Dhatu. Depending upon the type of dosha vitiated, the Pandu rog has been divided into five types;

  • Vatic Anemia - It is caused by vitiated vayu and has characteristics like pale and dry skin, body aches, constipation.
  • Paittic Anemia - It is caused by vitiated pitta and has characteristics such as yellow skin, urine, thirst, fever, and diarrhea.
  • Kaphaja Anemia - It is caused by vitiated kapha and has characteristics such as white discoloration of the skin, urine and eyes, nausea, drowsiness, laziness.
  • Tridoshic Anemia - It is caused by vitiation of all three doshas and has mixed features of all the above anemic conditions
  • Anemia due to mud intake - It has characteristics such as dryness of the body, fatigue, indigestion, disability of the sense organs, loss of luster of the body

Symptoms of Anemia-

The symptoms of Anemia may differ according to the cause of Anemia and the Severity. However, the common symptoms of it are dizziness, fatigue, and lack of energy, pale skin, insomnia, and headache and short of breath. The person having the Anemia due to iron deficiency has symptoms such as soreness of mouth or hunger for strange substances like mud or paper. The people with Anemia due to deficiency of Vitamin B12 have symptoms such as stiffness in legs and arms or lost of touch. Hence the symptoms of the Anemia may vary as per the cause of Anemia.

The Anemic people generally have a concern that whether Anemia is a hereditary disorder?

The answer to this question would be that there are many causes of Anemia out of which there are some causes which are hereditary. these are:

Sickle Cell Anemia - The people with Sickle Cell Anemia have genes that cause the red blood cells to have a crescent shape. These cells live in the very short span of time as compared to the normal life of the cells.

Thalassemia - This is the genetic disorder which kids get inherited from the parents where the bone marrow does not function normally.

The other disorders which lead to genetic Anemia are congenital pernicious Anemia, fanconi Anemia, hereditary spherocytosis and thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura. These are the causes of Anemia which are due to genetic disorder.

Ayurvedic Treatment

Anemia is not a disease but a disorder which needs to be taken care so that it does not lead to any major problem. The people with genetic Anemia have to manage Anemia lifelong hence the Ayurvedic treatments prove to be very beneficial for the anemic people. The Ayurvedic treatment of Anemia is all about self-control so as to eat right and eat healthily. The healthy eating habits ensure that the person gets treated naturally along with the inclusion of Ayurvedic herbs as the triphala, shatavari ghee. Some of the advice given to the anemic people is; to take care of their diets such as avoiding the food that may lead to indigestion, heavy, spice, fried foods, non-veg and even eggs should be avoided. The meals that are light to stomach and rich in iron should be taken and preferably the meal should be cooked in an iron pot. Fruits like pomegranate and melon are highly beneficial for anemic people. Any condition which can lead to loss of blood like bleeding piles or excessive menstruation should be treated immediately

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Disclaimer - The aim of the article is just to convey information to you. Use any medicine, therapy, herb or fruit please do it under the guidance of a qualified Ayurveda doctor.