“What treatments are available for anemia?”

There are different treatments depending on what type of anemia you are presenting with. The types of anemia are: Anemia due to vitaminB12 deficiency; Anemia due to Folate (Folate Acid ) deficiency; Anemia due to iron deficiency; Hemolytic anemia; Idiopathic aplastic anemia; Megaloblastic anemia; Pernicious anemiaThere are more than 400 types of Anemias, and they are divided into three groups; Anemia caused by blood loss Anemia caused by decreased or faulty red blood cell production; And, Anemia caused by destruction of red blood cell. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type . For example, iron deficiency anemia due to blood loss or due to lack of nutrients, can be corrected by stopping the blood loss and eating food that are reach in iron. Diet: beans, dried fruits, eggs, lean red meat, salmon, iron-fortified bread and cereal, peas, tofu, dark green leafy vegetables (Spanish cucumber, broccoli) among others. The treatment is more dependent of the underlying cause of your anemia. A complete evaluation needs to be done to Taylor the Treatment plan. Please, check with your healthcare provider to find the etiologic factor concerning your anemia. Thank you.

It depends on the reason for the anemia.
If it’s iron deficiency, then you need to take iron tablet or intervenous, and more importantly, to rule out any bleeding or cancer in the colon or stomach
If anemia is due to bone marrow problem e.g. MDS, then you need to address that with either, chemotherapy or ESA shots that’s stimulate the bone marrow
If they anemia is due to hemolysis, then may need to take steroids or to remove the spleen
So there is no simple answer for this question.
We can talk for more than an hour on treatment options for anemia.
Remember that anemia is not a disease, but rather a manifestation of underlying disease?

The treatment really depends on the type of anemia you have. Some may be easy to treat such as iron deficiency anemia which is common among otherwise healthy women and can usually be treated with iron pills. Other types may be due to specific vitamin deficiencies (need to know cause before you know what vitamin pills to administer). Finally some are genetic (e.g. sickle cell anemia) which may not be readily curable, but treatable with various drugs and blood transfusions (new promising gene treatments for this disease are currently being researched). So it all depends on the type of anemia. Your doctor or clinic should be able to guide you on this. David Gordon, M.D.