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About fifteen percent of people over age sixty-five have anemia, otherwise known as a low red blood cell count. And while it can cause mental and physical fatigue, mild anemia is not usually of grave concern to doctors who care for seniors.
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Now research from the University of Florida is alerting doctors to newfound dangers when it
comes to anemia. A new study reveals that elderly patients who develop even a mild case risk
serious health problems that increase the odds they will be hospitalized and nearly double the
chance they will die. doctors studied more than three-thousand seniors seventy-one or older.
Thirty-seven percent of those with anemia died during the four years study participants were
tracked, compared with twenty-two percent of those without anemia. The risks were apparent
even for patients whose levels of the oxygen-carrying molecule hemoglobin (hee-moh-globe-inn)
dipped just one gram per deciliter below normal… considered a mild form of anemia. In addition,
two-thirds of anemic participants were hospitalized at some point; only half of those without anemia were.
Dr. Marco Pahor / UF aging researcher
"This is a really important risk factor for future hospitalization, disability and mortality. Therefore, because anemia is preventable or can be cured, physicians and people need to pay attention to the problem."
Voice-over:
Much like cholesterol or blood pressure readings signal middle-aged patients' health status, doctors think that hemoglobin levels could be used to predict the risk of future complications in seniors. In the study, researchers found an association between late-life anemia and heart conditions, cancer, diabetes and other ailments. And although doctors say treating patients with iron and vitamin supplements can often correct anemia, it should always be taken seriously.
Dr. Marco Pahor / UF aging researcher
"If you're an older patient and you find out you have anemia, even if it's a mild anemia, talk to your doctor, inquire about the causes, and go about it seriously in correcting the causes."
Voice-over:
At the University of Florida Health Science Center, I'm Mike Garrison
