What causes anemia in boys?

Anemia is a common symptom, a physical health problem caused by a decrease in blood in the body. Anemia occurs in many people, and some boys with poor physical fitness will have symptoms of anemia. Anemia is mainly divided into three types according to the cause, namely: hypoerythropoiesis anemia, hemolytic anemia, and hemorrhagic anemia. The following will introduce these three types of anemia in detail.

1. Hypoerythropoietic Anemia

Why does the hemolytic organ, the bone marrow, produce fewer cells? If we compare the bone marrow to a hematopoietic factory, it will be easier for us to understand and analyze it.

The first possibility is a lack of raw materials for hematopoiesis, which mainly include iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin B6 and protein. The second possibility is that the hematopoietic factory itself is paralyzed or has stopped production, such as when the bone marrow is damaged by infection, poisoning, radiation, or occupied by other cells such as tumor cells. The third possibility is that there is a lack of "lubricant" that makes the factory machines run, that is, a lack of factors that regulate red blood cell production, such as a decrease in erythropoietin.

Common types of this type of anemia include iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency megaloblastic anemia, aplastic anemia, infectious anemia, lead poisoning anemia, and anemia caused by tumors, etc. However, there is a special type of anemia called "infant physiological anemia", which is a transient anemia caused by normal physiological changes that occur 2-3 months after the baby is born (see "infant physiological anemia"), which is not pathological, so it is called physiological anemia.

2. Hemolytic Anemia

Under normal circumstances, the life span of red blood cells is 120 days. Every day, about 1% of aging red blood cells are removed from the blood, and at the same time, a corresponding number of new red blood cells are released from the bone marrow into the blood to maintain the constant number of red blood cells. When the life span of red blood cells is shortened and the destruction increases, although the bone marrow hematopoiesis is enhanced, it is not enough to compensate for the loss of red blood cells. The anemia caused by this is called hemolytic anemia. Common types include: G-6-PD enzyme deficiency (such as leukemia), immune hemolysis, hereditary spherocytosis, β-thalassemia, etc.

3. Hemorrhagic anemia

As the name suggests, this is anemia caused by excessive blood loss, which can be divided into acute and chronic types. Acute blood loss is rare in children, and most cases are chronic, latent, and long-term blood loss. Hemorrhagic anemia can occur due to gastrointestinal allergies to milk, intestinal malformations, intestinal worms, birth injuries (such as hematoma of the head), and excessive menstruation.