Can gastritis cause anemia? Gastritis is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract, but its effects can have a huge impact on all organs and systems. Anemia with gastritis is more prone to its appearance in the atrophic form, as a result of the lack of treatment of which a serious disease can develop – cancer. Iron deficiency anemia is a consequence of decreased levels of hemoglobin in the blood, the protein that is responsible for the production of red blood cells. So is gastritis the cause of anemia? What do doctors say about this? Read more gastritinfo.com.
What is anemia
Iron deficiency anemia is usually considered a symptom of another disease or condition rather than a separate disease and usually occurs when the body does not have enough iron. Young children or adults on strict diets may not get enough iron from their food, which can lead to anemia.
The ability of the digestive system to absorb enough iron may be impaired, which often occurs in cases where part of the stomach has been removed. Anemia can occur due to excessive blood loss. This applies to women who have heavy periods, as well as people suffering from stomach and duodenal ulcers, hemorrhoids, or stomach or colon cancer.
Two other forms of anemia are hemolytic anemia, in which red blood cells are destroyed too quickly, and sickle cell anemia, in which the body produces abnormal hemoglobin.
If you suspect you have anemia, it is important to see your doctor quickly. Anemia can reduce the body’s resistance to disease, cause loss of strength, and limit performance. Anemia can also be a sign of more serious medical problems. Anemia is diagnosed based on a blood test. Treatment of anemia is based on restoring the amount of iron in the body with the help of various medications (both oral and injection).
Gastritis and anemia
With “ordinary” types of gastritis, which occur in 80% of cases, the stomach wall becomes red, swollen, thick, and painful. These types of gastritis were previously called gastritis with high acidity.
But every fifth person may experience the opposite situation, which is called atrophy. In this case, the wall of the stomach becomes thin, weak, thin, and does not produce gastric juice well. Previously, such gastritis was called gastritis with low acidity.
It is atrophic gastritis that can degenerate into stomach cancer over a long period of time. It is with atrophic gastritis that anemia and iron deficiency very often develop. Of course, anemia can develop with any gastritis, but with atrophic gastritis this almost always happens.
Anemia gastritis symptoms
It is not always possible to distinguish one type of gastritis from another based on symptoms. To determine the type of gastritis, it is necessary to do a biopsy, that is, remove a very small piece of the mucous membrane from the stomach and examine it under a microscope. Sometimes a blood test and determination of stomach hormones can be used to detect atrophy.
The presence of gastritis can be suspected by the appearance of discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen, heaviness, fullness in the stomach, a sharp increase in appetite or its complete disappearance, and in some cases heartburn or belching may appear. In such a situation, an examination of the abdomen is necessary. At the same time, atrophic gastritis may have no symptoms at all! Just like iron deficiency and anemia, they can be accompanied by fatigue, fatigue, problem skin, hair and nails, or they may not show themselves as symptoms.
If anemia develops with gastritis, this means that both anemia and gastritis need to be treated. Iron supplements are used to replenish iron levels in the body. Almost all drugs that have existed until now, unfortunately, had side effects on the stomach and increased inflammation in it.
Therefore, treating anemia in people with gastritis has been challenging. Fortunately, science does not stand still and new drugs have now appeared that solve this problem. For example, Sideral Forte. This iron supplement has no side effects on the stomach, and all the iron is completely absorbed into the body. Therefore, for anemia and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, it is the main medicine. You need to replenish iron in the body and treat gastritis at the same time.
Can anemia be caused by gastritis
In recent years, ideas about the relationship between chronic gastritis and some forms of anemia have undergone significant revision. If quite recently it was almost unconditionally accepted that iron deficiency anemia is often a consequence of impaired iron resorption due to achlorhydria caused by atrophic gastritis, now views have changed.
With the introduction of gastrobiopsy and histamine tests into the clinic, it was shown that many patients with iron deficiency anemia do not have advanced atrophy of the gastric mucosa. This has led to the assumption that, for the most part, gastritis is not the cause of iron deficiency, but, on the contrary, the lack of the latter leads to damage to the gastric mucosa.
The above, however, does not exclude the possibility that in some patients atrophic gastritis actually leads to gastrogenic iron deficiency anemia. In particular, it was suggested that the stomach secretes a substance that promotes the absorption of iron by forming chelate compounds with it. This process can be disrupted with advanced atrophy of the gastric glands.
It is generally accepted that pernicious anemia develops due to the loss of the ability of the atrophied gastric mucosa to produce intrinsic Castle factor. The exception is rare cases of “true juvenile peritiotic anemia”, in which the glandular apparatus of the stomach remains anatomically intact.
More controversial is the question of the nature of treatment of the gastric mucosa in chronic gastritis. Even 35 years ago, Magnus and Ungley suggested that we are not talking about ordinary gastritis, but about a non-inflammatory process such as simple atrophy. However, later Magnus modified his views and came to the conclusion that the death of the glandular apparatus of the stomach can be a consequence of both atrophic gastritis and simple atrophy.
In any case, chronic gastritis in patients with pericytic anemia has endogenous features. Changes in it concern mainly the body of the stomach, and are clinically characterized by a latent, or sublatent, course.
What is hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (from ancient Greek αἷμα – “blood” and Latin globus – “ball”) is a complex iron-containing protein that is responsible for the delivery of oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body and for the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. In vertebrates, hemoglobin is found in red blood cells; in invertebrates, this protein is dissolved in the blood plasma and may be present in other tissues.
An increased level of hemoglobin is usually observed after physical exertion, while at high altitude (in pilots after flights, in residents of high mountains), as well as with the development of erythrocytosis (a disease in which too many red blood cells are produced), with thickening of the blood, congenital heart defects, intestinal obstruction, cardiopulmonary failure. Unbound hemoglobin (that is, not found in red blood cells) is very toxic and causes acute kidney failure.
Low hemoglobin levels, or anemia, occur due to a lack of vitamin B12 or iron, due to large blood loss, or due to blood diseases in which red blood cells are destroyed.
The level of hemoglobin in the blood of people is strictly individual and depends on age, gender and characteristics of the body, however, it is believed that the average hemoglobin level in men is 130-160 g/l, in women – 120-150 g/l. In children, the level of hemoglobin in the blood changes rapidly: one to three days after birth, the indicator is unusually high, 145-225 g/l, and after three to six months it drops to a minimum level of 95-135 g/l. During childhood and adolescence, the level of hemoglobin in the blood gradually rises and reaches normal levels by adulthood.
Hemoglobin for gastritis
In recent years, new approaches to the treatment of iron deficiency anemia have emerged. Scientists have found that hemoglobin levels often decrease in patients with gastritis. It’s simple: the inflamed gastric mucosa is not able to absorb iron well from food and medications.
Therefore, doctors now recommend that if you have anemia, you must be examined for the presence of Helicobacter. And if this bacterium is found on you, you must undergo a course of treatment.
The doctor will propose a treatment regimen that will need to be followed for 10–14 days. In most cases, getting rid of gastritis leads to normalization of iron absorption. And hemoglobin returns to normal.
How to increase hemoglobin with gastritis
Means that increase hemoglobin in the blood are primarily foods rich in iron. Doctors with low hemoglobin recommend eating meat, it can be lean veal, pork, beef. Beef liver increases hemoglobin well; it is advisable not to fry it too much. To maintain hemoglobin levels, eat 50 grams of boiled beef tongue daily.
Be sure to eat vegetables and fruits containing vitamin C, this vitamin helps us absorb iron. Iron is better absorbed from foods if they are consumed with those foods that are rich in vitamin C. These are oranges, lemons, grapefruit, kiwi, pomegranate, but do not eat kilograms of these fruits, you should eat no more than one orange, half a grapefruit, a quarter of a pomegranate per day . Drink pomegranate, carrot, beet juice, these juices are very useful for anemia. Our body absorbs approximately 5% of iron from vegetables and fruits.
Eat soups, vegetables and fruits, do not forget about cereals and black bread, eat salads from fresh vegetables. During strawberry and wild strawberry season, try to eat as many of these berries as possible. Eat fish, red caviar, egg yolk, dairy products and seafood.
Drink less tea and coffee, because they contain substances that flush iron from our body, and coffee also flushes calcium from our body. That is, during the treatment of iron deficiency anemia, it is better to give up tea and coffee altogether, but if you really want to, you can drink a cup of green tea.
Now there are a lot of medications that help increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood, and you can increase hemoglobin with the help of products containing iron and medications. If there is very low hemoglobin in the blood and a person needs urgent medical attention, then he should immediately consult a doctor.
Recipes for increasing hemoglobin with gastritis:
- prepare an infusion of rose hips: to do this, crush 1.5 tablespoons of dried rose hips and pour a glass of boiling water (250 grams) in a thermos overnight, and in the morning, strain the infusion and add a teaspoon of natural honey and a tablespoon of lemon juice. This drink is useful for both adults and children. Adults should drink a glass of this drink in the morning before breakfast, and children should take half a glass a day;
- you also need to mix 100 grams of carrot and beet juice and drink a mixture of these juices once a day;
- mix 100 grams of apple and cranberry juice and drink once a day;
- Grind a glass of raw buckwheat in a coffee grinder, grind a glass of walnuts in a blender and pour a glass of natural honey, take a tablespoon of this mixture;
- walnuts, dried apricots, raisins (1:1:1) and natural honey, mince all ingredients or grind in a blender, pour in honey and take a tablespoon of this mixture three times a day. This mixture not only helps increase hemoglobin levels, but also provides the body with vitamins.
If you have symptoms indicating anemia, consult a doctor immediately because first of all you need a blood test, by which you will know whether your hemoglobin is normal or not.