Anemia is not a trivial matter, don't make up for it

Anemia is not a trivial matter, don't make up for it

Most women think that they should be anemic due to physiological reasons; some elderly people think that it is normal for them to be a little anemic because of their age. Therefore, even if anemia is found in the physical examination, they do not go to the hospital for consultation or treatment. There are also some people who find that they are anemic and do not see a doctor, so they start to "supplement" red "blood medicines" such as jujube, peanut clothes, donkey-hide gelatin, and red beans.

So, is anemia really a trivial matter? Is it ok to just take supplements?

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what is anemia

In layman's terms, anemia is the lack of red blood cells in the human body. Red blood cells are the "porters" that carry oxygen, and oxygen is indispensable for all organs of the human body. Red blood cells decrease, oxygen supply is insufficient, and various organs of the body may be hypoxic, resulting in symptoms of anemia such as fatigue, dizziness, chest tightness, and loss of appetite.

Every organ in the human body needs blood supply, and red blood cells are needed to transport oxygen. Therefore, long-term anemia is likely to cause organ dysfunction. Those with chronic anemia have adapted to the hypoxic state and are asymptomatic with usual activities of daily living, so the anemia is often overlooked. Don't you know that at this time, the human body is compensating in the form of a "small horse-drawn cart". On the surface, there are no symptoms, but when the "pull" stops one day, the disease will become serious. When I came to the hospital at this time, the difficulty of treatment was obviously increased, and some even required blood transfusion.

Why do we have anemia, can we make up for the anemia?

Healing should be based on

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that if a patient has symptoms such as pale complexion or chlorosis, pale lips, tongue, claws, dizziness, palpitations, dreaminess, numbness of hands and feet, women with less menstruation, pale complexion, late stage or amenorrhea, and thready pulse, it belongs to "blood disease". Deficiency" and "chlorosis" categories.

"Shi Yi De Xiao Fang" in the Yuan Dynasty used "Vinegar Calcined Needle Sand" to treat "accumulation of jaundice" and "yellow swelling"; "Zhang Sanfeng Xian Chuan Fang" in the Ming Dynasty explained the effect of "Cai Mu Wan" as "treating weak spleen and soil, liver wood qi Sheng, the liver takes advantage of the spleen soil, fullness in the sick chest and abdomen, or yellow swelling like earthy color, taking this can help the soil"; "Chuan Ya Nei Pian" uses "modified green vitriol pills to treat yellow diseases in men and women of all sizes".

This is the record of using traditional Chinese medicine to treat anemia-related diseases, but this does not mean that as long as it is anemia, it is enough to directly use some "tonic medicine" to supplement it. The so-called "visible blood cannot grow quickly", the treatment of "blood deficiency" is not achieved overnight, and requires long-term conditioning for the cause. "Treating a disease to seek its root" is actually a common principle of both Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

The theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine is based on the establishment of syndrome differentiation analysis. Through syndrome differentiation, it is used to analyze the patient's constitution, the stage of the disease, and the compatibility of medicines. Through syndrome differentiation and medication, the human body can reach a healthy state, the symptoms of "blood deficiency" can be improved or disappeared, and the symptoms of anemia can be corrected.

From the perspective of Western medicine, it is also inappropriate to "tonic" anemia without going to the doctor regardless of the situation.

Even the anemia caused by the lack of nutrients, such as excessive weight loss, picky eaters or gastrectomy, causes iron deficiency or lack of hematopoietic raw materials such as vitamin B 12 and folic acid. At this time, it is necessary to supplement the deficiency through oral or intravenous rehydration. nutrient. Although many foods also contain nutrients such as iron, folic acid, and vitamin B 12 , for patients who already have obvious nutritional deficiencies, only through food supplements will not only cause too long organ hypoxia due to the slow effect, but also cause complications. It may also ignore some existing hidden diseases, such as malabsorption of nutrients or chronic blood loss caused by gastrointestinal tumors. This kind of disease is not only curative effect is poor, but also will delay the diagnosis. Therefore, even for the simplest nutritional anemia, it is necessary to follow the doctor's advice, not only to make up for what is lacking, to an appropriate level, but also to grasp the disease behind the anemia, not only to treat the symptoms, but also to cure the root cause.

Taking iron deficiency anemia as an example, behind every iron deficiency anemia there must be a "culprit" that leads to iron deficiency. It’s just that if you don’t go to a doctor to help you find the “culprit” if you supplement iron, this hidden “murderer” will surely “commit” again in the future. Of course, we must also consider solving the immediate problem, which is to supplement the iron element that is lacking. The human body needs at least 15 mg of iron per day, and patients with iron-deficiency anemia usually need about 50-180 mg of iron per day. The ferrous sulfate sustained-release tablet commonly used in clinical practice contains 50 mg of iron, take 1 tablet per day; each bag of Jianpi Shengxue Granules contains 20 mg of iron, 3 times a day, 1 to 3 packs each time. This amount of iron supplementation takes at least 3 to 6 months.

"Supplementing form with form" is unreliable

Many people think that as long as it is anemia, according to the principle of "replenishing the form with form", it is enough to use some red food, such as donkey-hide gelatin, red dates, red beans, peanuts and other supplements. Such a view is unacceptable.

For example, iron deficiency anemia, not to mention that the iron content in plants is not as high as imagined, and the point is that it can be absorbed very little. Iron from animal sources has a higher absorption rate than iron from plant sources, but the content is still not comparable to that of drugs that specifically supplement iron. Moreover, although many meats are relatively high in iron, they are also high in cholesterol. If you eat according to the amount of iron that should be supplemented, the possibility of not gaining weight or even being stretched is very low.

There are also some "tonics" that people say can nourish blood, but they are not "experts" in the field of iron supplementation at all!

For example, "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" records: donkey-hide gelatin, the main confidant, internal collapse, extreme fatigue, sprinkling like malaria, waist and abdomen pain, sore limbs, women's blood to prevent pregnancy, long-term use to lighten the body and nourish qi. The "Basic Composition Data Sheet of Chinese Functional Food Raw Materials" states: (the sample comes from Tongrentang) every 100 grams of donkey-hide gelatin contains 73 grams of protein, including 0.09 mg of vitamin B2, 4.7 mg of iron, and 34.1 micrograms of folic acid; and the daily recommended amount of donkey-hide gelatin does not exceed 15 grams. Based on this calculation, if a patient with iron deficiency anemia wants to supplement iron with donkey-hide gelatin, at least 1 kg of donkey-hide gelatin is needed every day. The blood-enriching prescriptions commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, such as Danggui Buxue Decoction, Guipi Decoction, and Siwu Decoction, do not contain donkey-hide gelatin. Clinically, donkey-hide gelatin is often used in some diseases that require hemostasis combined with deficiency syndrome, and it is used in combination with other drugs, and donkey-hide gelatin is not used as a key blood-tonifying drug.

Another example is red dates, red beans, or medicines that turn red after processing, which are also blood-enriching in the public perception. In fact, the red color of peanuts comes from proanthocyanidins, which are found in blueberries and mulberries, which contain very little iron and are not so blood-enriching. For other foods that are often considered to be able to nourish blood, the author has checked the information and confirmed that each kilogram of dried dates contains about 23 mg of iron, fresh dates 12 mg, and red beans about 22 mg. Although they are red, they do not contain as much iron as mushrooms and raisins. Besides, animal iron that is easy to absorb contains 226 mg of iron per kilogram of pig liver, 300 mg of duck blood, 87 mg of pig blood, and 39 mg of beef. It can be seen that if the anemia is really caused by iron deficiency, food supplements must not be as good as professional iron supplements!

Some anemia is secondary to other diseases, such as hemolytic anemia, some blood system diseases, this kind of anemia has basically no effect on nutritional supplementation. If it's just big fish and meat or various supplements, it may only increase the probability of obesity, and the disease will only further aggravate.

Therefore, anemia is not a trivial matter, and treatment needs to be timely. Don't delay minor illnesses, and treat serious illnesses immediately. Do not blindly believe in food supplements, and actively look for the cause and symptomatic treatment, which is the best policy.

Jiang Yiling Baoshan Branch of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

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