Anemia.This word is on everyone's lips, however, does everyone have a good idea of what this disease is and how many varieties it has? This blood disease is quite common. Adults and teenagers suffer from it, anemia in infants is also a fairly common phenomenon. Before telling you what anemia is, as well as what are the signs of anemia in children, I would like to refresh the knowledge that I have from school about what blood is and what its functions are. Even small children know that the red liquid that flows from a scraped knee is blood. Blood has various interesting features. For example, blood, thanks to special proteins, has the ability to clot, thanks to which bleeding stops. Blood constantly circulates through arteries, veins and capillaries, strictly along a certain route. Blood saturated with oxygen rushes to all organs and tissues of the human body, and blood saturated with carbon dioxide and other waste products returns back through the veins. Interesting fact: the total length of all blood vessels is about 100,000 km. The liquid component of blood is called plasma. Plasma contains a large number of proteins, fats, carbons, micro and macroelements, many of which are accepted in the process of hematopoiesis. Also in the plasma are blood cells:
- Erythrocytes. Pink blood cells, in shape resembling plates. Pink color is given to the hemoglobin, which is part of the protein. The main function of hemoglobin is transport: the erythrocytes carry oxygen and carbon dioxide. In addition, red blood cells determine the Rh factor and the blood group of a person.
- Leukocytes. In size, these are the largest blood cells. In the middle of the red blood cell there is a nucleus around which there are fine granular impregnations. These inclusions are called granulocytes. Also, there are cells that have a much smaller size, with a round, almost the entire cell area, the nucleus - lymphocytes. And cells that have a bean-shaped nucleus are called monocytes. All these cells are blood leukocytes. The main role of leukocytes is protective. It is the leukocytes that take the first blow in case of penetration into the human body of various pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, for leukemia immunity is also responsible for leukocytes. Leukocytes, like the real "soldiers", are divided into different types of "troops". T - lymphocytes recognize foreign cells and memorize them, B - lymphocytes provide the development of necessary antibodies in this situation, and macrophages and neutrophils destroy them. In this case, not only foreign cells die, but leukocytes also die. By the way, pus is nothing more than the accumulation of dead leukocytes.
- Platelets are cells responsible for stopping and clotting of blood.
Plasma containing blood cellsis called peripheral blood. However, when talking about the circulatory system, we cannot help but mention the bone marrow, where the birth and maturation of blood cells occurs. Before formed blood cells enter the peripheral blood, they go through a complex maturation stage. At birth, absolutely all cells are similar to each other, like twin brothers. And only after the stage of division and maturation do they become erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets. The lifespan of blood cells is short: neutrophils live only 10 hours, platelets - 10 days. And erythrocytes can be called long-livers - their lifespan is as much as 120 days. And finally, the last link in the chain of organs of the circulatory system is the spleen. The spleen destroys aged cells, and also reacts to the appearance of cells modified due to disease and also destroys them. The branch of medicine that studies and treats blood diseases is called hematology, and, accordingly, a doctor who specializes in blood diseases is called a hematologist. It is he who should be immediately contacted by those parents who notice signs of anemia in children. Almost all blood diseases in children have almost the same symptoms in the initial stage:
- Deterioration of the general condition of the body.
- Weakness, increased fatigue.
- Significant decrease in appetite.
If parents ignore these first warning signs, the child's condition may worsen significantly. Many parents are very concerned about symptoms such as:
- Clearly expressed pallor of the skin, often with an icteric tinge.
- The appearance of dark circles under the eyes.
- Spontaneous nasal bleeding, the appearance of numerous hematomas.
- Also often the child has constant inflammation of the lymph nodes.
If a hematologist suspects a diseaseblood in children, and the symptoms also confirm the presence of a problem, he will prescribe special blood tests, on the basis of which a diagnosis will be made. Several blood indicators are distinguished, by which the correct functioning of the circulatory system is assessed.
- Erythrocytes and hemoglobin. The figures are 4 million and 120, respectively. The color indicator is determined by the color index. The color index can be normal, low (hypochromic) and high (hyperchromic). If these blood counts are lowered, anemia develops, which can be normochromic, hypochromic, or, respectively, hyperchromic. For example, anemia of 1 degree in children is characterized by a decrease in the hemoglobin level by approximately 20 units.
- The next indicator, to which the laboratory assistant,conducting a study of blood, draws attention to this leukocyte formula. The percentage of leukocyte cells, such as lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytes, is called the leukocyte formula.
- Also in the blood formula there are cells called basophils and eosinophils. Their level increases if the child suffers from allergic diseases or helminthic invasion.
- The content of platelets does not change over the course ofof the life of a person and should normally not be less than 200,000. If the platelet count goes down, symptoms such as systematic bleeding occur, most often nasal, the appearance of petechiae (the so-called pinpoint hemorrhages), bruises. When these symptoms appear in children, parents should immediately consult a hematologist, or in his absence, a pediatrician.
In the event that the child hasinfectious or inflammatory diseases, the level of leukocytes in the blood immediately increases, and also during a laboratory blood test, you can notice the appearance of single cells in the blood that are not yet fully mature. Such changes are called leukemoid reaction. But if the disease is viral in nature, the level of leukocytes decreases significantly. There are a huge number of blood diseases, but anemia is the most common. For example, anemia in infants has long ceased to surprise doctors. Moreover, it is children of the first two years who most often suffer from this disease. However, anemia also comes in different types:
- Iron-deficiency anemia.
- Hemolytic anemia in children. It occurs much less often than iron deficiency anemia in children, treatment is more complicated.
- Hypochromic anemia in children occurs quite often, it is a kind of iron deficiency.
- Aplastic anemia in children is a very serious and dangerous disease, among children with this disease is very high mortality rate.
Iron-deficiency anemia
The most common type of anemia isименно железодефицитная. Гипохромная анемия у детей также относится к железодефицитной. Лечится гипохромная анемия у детей точно также и обычная железодефицитная. Железодефицитная анемия у детей симптомы вызывает ярко выраженные, и внимательные родители никогда не пропустят патологические изменения в состоянии здоровья малышей. У ребёнка может наблюдаться изменение в поведении, ярко выраженная бледность кожных покровов. Показатели крови также резко изменяются в сторону снижения показателей красной крови – эритроцитов и гемоглобина. Как уже говорилось выше, гемоглобин содержит железо, необходимое для нормального снабжения организма кислородом. Именно поэтому данный вид анемии и получил своё название. Также железо крайне необходимо не только для построения белка гемоглобина, но и включается в состав клеточных ферментов дыхания. Таким образом, при нехватке железа, происходит сбой во многих обменных процессах организма. Железодефицитная анемия у детей раннего возраста встречается чаще всего. Причины анемии у детей достаточно разнообразны. В одних случаях анемия возникает из – за особенностей внутриутробного развития, а в других анемия развивается из – за воздействия на организм ребёнка неблагоприятных факторов извне. Очень часто наблюдается анемия у недоношенных детей. Объясняется эта особенность тем, что основной запас железа ребёнок получает именно в последние три месяца внутриутробного развития. То, насколько сильно выражена анемия у недоношенных детей, зависит от того, на каком сроке беременности рождён малыш. Чем меньше срок беременности, тем меньше железа кроха успевает получить от матери. Однако может быть анемия не только у недоношенных детей. Родителям тех малышей, которые родились точно в срок, также нельзя терять бдительности. Особенно внимательно должны контролировать состояние здоровья своего малыша те мамы, у которых во время беременности были сильные токсикозы, особенно второй половины беременности, а также хронические заболевания. Очень часто железодефицитная анемия у детей раннего возраста вызвана именно патологическим протеканием беременности. Ещё одной немаловажной причиной возникновения железодефицитной анемии у детей раннего возраста, является интенсивный рост малыша в первые два года жизни. Вес малыша в течение года увеличивается в три, а то и более, раз. Соответственно, и объём крови увеличивается примерно в три раза. Потребность в железе у крохи также возрастает как минимум в три раза. Именно поэтому возможно появление анемия у грудных детей. Вопреки ошибочному мнению, питание при анемии у детей первого года жизни не оказывает на течение болезни абсолютно никакого влияния. Ведь железо содержится в основном в тех продуктах питания, которые детям первого года жизни употреблять нельзя. А вот в молоке, к сожалению, содержание железа крайне низко. Лечение анемии у детей до года, как правило, проводится медикаментозным способом. В наше время существуют замечательные препараты железа, которые поднимают его уровень за считанные дни. Однако помните о том, что лечение анемии у детей до года должно проводиться только по назначению и под строгим наблюдением вашего лечащего врача. Если анемия у детей до года лечение крайне необходимо. Если родители проигнорируют данное заболевание, надеясь, что оно пройдёт само собой, возможно развитие тяжёлых осложнение. Анемия у детей до года лечение которой не проводится, приводит к обширному кислородному голоданию всего организма, угнетению нормальной работы центральной нервной системы, отставанию как в физическом, таки в умственном развитии малыша. А избежать этого очень просто, нет абсолютно никакой сложности в лечении анемии у детей до года. Для этого родителям просто достаточно при появлении соответствующих, вышеописанных, симптомов обратиться к врачу, который, после того, как будет установлен анемии у детей до года, назначит лечение, которое подойдёт именно для вашего малыша. А вот питание при анемии у детей старше одного года уже играет немаловажную роль. Рацион ребёнка значительно расширяется, и можно скорректировать его таким образом, чтобы в организм поступало большее количество железа. Наиболее высокое содержание железа в таких продуктах питания, как:
- Buckwheat grain.
- Apples and apple juice. Preferably use apples of green varieties.
- Red beetroot.
- Meat of low-fat varieties.
- Liver.
- Pomegranate juice. However, remember that for children in their second year of life, pomegranate juice should be diluted with water in a 1 to 1 ratio to avoid problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
Treatment of iron deficiency anemia in children, howas a rule, is always effective and does not take much time. It is also necessary to tell about another group of children who are at high risk. These are girls during puberty. During this period of development of the body, there is a significant restructuring and, as a result, the level of need for iron increases significantly. Treatment of iron deficiency anemia in children of this group, unfortunately, usually begins with a great delay. This is due to the fact that the disease proceeds for a long time without symptoms at all. Anemia manifests itself when a condition called chronic sideropenia in medicine develops. In other words, chronic iron deficiency. Signs of such anemia in children are as follows:
- Very fast fatigue.
- The appearance of disgust at the sight and smell of meat and fish.
- Perversion of appetite - the desire to eat chalk, sand and other inedible things.
- Drying of a previously normal skin type.
- Increased brittleness of hair and nails.
If a child has such iron deficiency anemiaIn children, treatment must be started immediately, and much more intensively than in the usual, uncomplicated form of the disease. This form of iron deficiency anemia in children is dangerous. Treatment often includes transfusion of blood or its components. Therefore, it is very important to try not to start the development of the disease and, even in the absence of complaints, periodically take a blood test. After all, treatment of the uncomplicated form of iron deficiency anemia in children does not cause any difficulties.
Hemolytic anemia in children
Hemolytic anemia in children is the second most commona disease that is a part of the anemia group. This anemia occurs because red blood cells, which are produced in normal quantities, are destroyed too quickly. Their life expectancy is only a few weeks. The causes of anemia in children are usually hereditary. There are two types of this type of anemia, depending on how the disease was inherited. As everyone probably remembers from their school biology course, two types of genes are responsible for all the signs in the body - dominant or primary, and recessive or secondary. If the dominant gene is sick, and the recessive gene is healthy, the disease will be dominant. But if the disease is caused by a combination of two recessive sick genes, the disease is considered recessive. The recessive type of hemolytic anemia in children is much more severe than the dominant one. However, fortunately, among hemolytic anemias, the dominant type of the disease, called Minkowski-Chauffard anemia, is most common. With this type of anemia, the destruction of red blood cells occurs in the spleen, where it should actually occur. But with non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia, which is inherited in a recessive manner, red blood cells are destroyed everywhere - in the liver, in the bone marrow, in the spleen. This type of anemia in children has the following symptoms:
- Persistent pallor of the skin at the onset of the disease.
- With the course of the disease, the yellowness of the skin becomes more pronounced.
- Periodic increase in body temperature to 30 degrees.
Based on laboratory research datablood and well-being, doctors choose tactics for treating anemia in children. Most often, a blood transfusion is performed to alleviate the child's condition. And after stabilization of the condition, doctors often recommend a surgical method for treating hemolytic anemia - splenectomy. Splenectomy is the removal of the spleen, which is responsible for the destruction of red blood cells. After this operation, a complete clinical cure of a sick child with any degree of severity of dominant hemolytic anemia occurs. However, a person still has a genetic defect, and in the future there is a very high probability of passing on this disease by inheritance. But the situation in the case of non-spherocytic forms of hemolytic anemia is much more complicated. Due to the fact that red blood cells are destroyed in many organs, and not just in the spleen, its removal gives only a small effect, or is completely useless.
Aplastic anemia in children
A less common type of anemia ishypoplastic anemia. The causes of anemia in children are that for some reason the bone marrow is damaged, resulting in a disruption of the normal process of hematopoiesis. Laboratory blood tests in children with such types of anemia show a reduced content of leukocytes, platelets and erythrocytes. A bone marrow puncture reveals an excess amount of fatty tissue replacing hematopoietic tissue. Such disorders of the bone marrow can be inherited in rare cases, but most often they are acquired. As a rule, it is almost impossible to establish the cause of the lesion - it can be immune, toxic, and even infectious effects on the bone marrow. Of the group of hypoplastic anemias, aplastic anemia in children is the most common. The disease always has a sudden but violent onset. The symptoms of aplastic anemia in children are quite specific and easily recognizable:
- Very pronounced pallor of the skin.
- Systematic occurrence of various bleedings, most often nasal.
- For the emergence of a large subcutaneous hematoma (bruise). It is enough just to touch the baby's skin.
- Sometimes a slight increase in body temperature is possible.
In the event that the parents noticed at leastsome of the above symptoms, they should immediately consult a doctor. The course of aplastic anemia in children is very severe, the disease tends to progress very quickly. In addition, unfortunately, for this disease, with the slightest delay, the prognosis is very unfavorable. Doctors still cannot come to a clear opinion on how to treat anemia in children. Those treatment methods that give a good positive effect in one case, do not help other children at all. However, most often, systematic transfusions of red blood cells and chemical therapy aimed at restoring normal bone marrow function are practiced to treat aplastic anemia. Unfortunately, such therapy does not always give the desired result. In this case, doctors are forced to resort to bone marrow transplantation. Nowadays, this procedure is used quite widely, but the indication for it is not the presence of the corresponding disease, but the lack of effect from conservative treatment methods. In order to transplant bone marrow to a child, it must be taken from somewhere. This is exactly why a donor is needed. However, not just any willing person can become a donor. The donor must be compatible with the child in many ways. Unfortunately, parents are often not suitable as donors. In some cases, the child's brothers or sisters are compatible. Otherwise, the search for a donor is carried out through a special database and often takes a very long time and, unfortunately, it often happens that children simply do not wait for him. For the donor, such a procedure is not at all dangerous: bone marrow is collected by a puncture in the iliac bone, under general anesthesia. After this, the bone marrow passes through a special filtering system, after which it is injected into the sick child intravenously. However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. Before a bone marrow transplant, careful preparation with the strongest pharmacological drugs is necessary. Otherwise, there is a high probability of rejection.
Prevention of anemia in children
Of course, it is much wiser not to allow itthe occurrence of the disease, than to treat it later. However, the prevention of anemia in children is justified only in relation to iron deficiency anemia. As is clear from all of the above, other types of anemia are either inherited, or the causes of their occurrence are difficult to establish. Prevention of anemia in children should begin during pregnancy. It is during intrauterine development that the baby receives a vital supply of vitamins and microelements. These include iron. That is why the diet of a pregnant woman should be rich in foods containing iron. During the last months of pregnancy, it is recommended to take vitamins for pregnant women containing iron. After the birth of the baby, the woman should make every effort to breastfeed him as long as possible. With breast milk, the baby receives the iron he needs so much. In the same case, if breastfeeding is impossible for some reason, it is necessary to give preference to fortified mixtures with a high iron content. It is very important to pay attention to the proper nutrition of a child of any age. A properly balanced diet will help the child avoid the occurrence of anemia. If the child already has health problems associated with iron deficiency anemia, it is necessary to completely exclude such products as black tea, carbonated drinks, chicken eggs and unboiled cow's milk from his diet, as they significantly reduce the body's ability to absorb iron. But ascorbic acid, like all organic acids, significantly increases iron absorption. In addition, animal protein contained in meat and fructose have this ability. In no case should children be allowed to come into contact with vapors of toxic substances - paints and varnishes, household chemicals, fuels and lubricants, etc. These vapors have a very negative effect on the child's body and can cause severe poisoning. And, in addition, they can cause premature disintegration of red blood cells and even disrupt the normal functioning of the bone marrow. It is necessary to ensure that the child spends a sufficiently long time in the fresh air and also receives the physical activity necessary for his age. And although doctors do not see a direct connection between walks and the development of anemia, they admit that children who lead a correct, healthy lifestyle are much less susceptible to anemia. There is a certain "risk group". It includes those children who were born to women:
- suffering from iron deficiency anemia.
- who suffered late toxicosis of pregnancy.
Also at risk are children bornpremature or with low body weight, twins, as well as those children who have a sharp growth spurt. Parents of such babies should closely monitor the health of their baby. If symptoms appear, parents should immediately consult a doctor, because stage 1 anemia in children is much easier to treat than an advanced severe form. The information in this article is given in general terms, in order to familiarize parents with the most common blood diseases in children. The purpose of the article is to help parents not to miss the symptoms of the disease. This information should never be used to diagnose and prescribe treatment on your own. Remember that self-medication can result in serious complications. We recommend reading:
