Analysis of anaemia.

Anaemia

Problem

Anaemia is a condition resulting from below- normal levels of haemoglobin in the red blood cells. Haemoglobin in the blood is responsible for carrying oxygen to the rest of the body.

Anaemia may be due to loss of blood from heavy menstrual periods, from internal bleeding caused by a peptic ulcer, or from haemorrhoids. A healthy person whose diet contains plenty of iron and vitamins can produce large amounts of new blood. However, if your diet is inadequate, even small, persistent losses of blood may cause anaemia.

There are several kinds of anemia. Iron-deficiency anaemia can develop in those who do not have enough iron, which is an essential ingredient of haemoglobin. Lack of Vitamin B-12 or folic acid can result in Vitamin B-12 deficient anaemia and folic acid deficient anaemia. Hemolytic anaemia occurs when red blood cells are destroyed more quickly than they can be replaced.

The symptoms of anaemia include fatigue, weakness, fainting, breathlessness, and heart palpitations.

Aplastic anaemia is a rare disease which affects mostly young men. 2 to 6 people per million worldwide develop this disorder annually but it affects ...

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The symptoms of anaemia include fatigue, weakness, fainting, breathlessness, and heart palpitations.

Aplastic anaemia is a rare disease which affects mostly young men. 2 to 6 people per million worldwide develop this disorder annually but it affects mostly people in the Orient. A variety of associations have been made in the attempt to find a specific cause, but no one cause can be identified. Treatment must be given straight away after diagnosis to avoid fatality. Patients treated successfully for anaemia then have a higher risk of developing other diseases later in life, including cancer.

Causes

Not taking in enough of the required nutrients in diet:

Lack of Folic Acid (Folic Acid Deficiency Anaemia)

Acquired Anaemias

These anaemias are caused by exposure to a virus, to toxins, chemicals or drugs.
These things don't let the body make healthy red blood cells.
Some names are: Aplastic anaemia and Acquired Haemolytic Anaemia

Inherited Anaemias

These anaemias are genetic.
This can:

cause the body to not make red blood cells.
If the body makes them, the red blood cells are not normal.

The body still makes red blood cells but they are not made in the normal amount.

Treatments

The main treatment for anaemia is a bone marrow transplant. This is done to decrease the risk of infection and maintain adequate haemoglobin values. Because survival after is affected by pretransplant transfusions, these are kept to a minimum. If transfusion becomes necessary due to bleeding or symptoms of anaemia, patients must be protected from alloimmunization and the development of antibodies to minor transplant antigens, both of which lead to graft rejection; for this reason, family members should not be the blood product donors.

Survival when the donor and recipient are mismatched at two or more loci is only 10-20%.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

skatealexia

13th of Jul 2012

Quality of writing

Punctuation, grammar and spelling are all done to a very high level. The candidate communicates clearly and concisely with clear paragraphing and structure behind the analysis.

Level of analysis

The candidate provides concise and clear analysis of the different types and causes of anaemia. The candidate should also consider further the different causes of the different types of anaemia as some of the facts they state need to be explained more. Such as haemolytic anaemia is normally an autoimmune disease but can be caused by different factors. The different types of acquired and inherited anaemias are explained well. The candidate also explains the different treatments to a high standard. The introduction is good and outlines what anaemia is before delving into the different types.

Response to question

The response to the question is done very well for gcse standard. To improve the candidate should have gone into greater depth to explain the causes behind the different types of anaemia as the explanations they provided as very basic. Overall, a very good clear essay which includes the causes, symptoms and treatment of anaemia.

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