How does ra cause anemia

Reducing inflammation in the body can help alleviate both joint symptoms and anemia, and improve your overall well-being. If you have low iron levels contributing to your anemia, your doctor may suggest taking iron supplements and making changes to your diet.

In some cases, adjustments may be made to your RA meds. If you suspect you have anemia, talk to your doctor, who can determine the safest steps for you. If symptoms of anemia become severe, your doctor may consider doing a blood transfusion or injections of a synthetic hormone called erythropoietin, which may help stimulate red blood cell production.

Treating anemia is critical to not only help you feel better from symptoms like fatigue, but also to prevent serious health complications, such as heart problems like an irregular heartbeat or heart failure.

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We represent patients through our popular social media channels, our website CreakyJoints. Only fill in if you are not human. Comorbid Conditions. There are many different forms of anemia and each has its own cause. Getting inflammation under control with medication is the best way to treat this kind of anemia. Iron Deficiency Anemia Iron deficiency anemia — the most common type of anemia — also occurs in people with inflammatory arthritis.

What Are the Symptoms of Anemia? Iron deficiency is detected by transferrin, ferritin, and cellular indices after adaptation of their normal values.

Treatment of the anaemia consists merely of antirheumatic treatment. Iron administration is counterproductive since iron chelators or exogenous erythropoietin administration might increase erythropoiesis.

In addition, 2 studies reported a significant improvement in QOL scores in patients with RA who experienced a response to treatment for anemia. These results suggest that 1 patients with RA who have anemia are likely to have more severe joint disease and 2 if the anemia is successfully treated, the joint disease will likely respond to treatment as well.

This blood loss may be slow and not immediately noticeable, but over time, it can lead to anemia. They will want to rule out non-RA related causes of anemia before recommending treatment, or changing your arthritis treatment plan if your medications could be contributing to anemia. When it comes to treatment, iron therapy given by mouth or intravenously is often beneficial for people who have both RA and anemia and who have low blood levels of iron.

Powerful antacids , often given to people taking NSAIDs to protect their stomach lining, can diminish the absorption of iron from the intestines. This may lead to the need for intravenous rather than oral iron. Typically, says Dr. Keel, the treatment for RA-related anemia is to treat the [underlying] inflammation caused by the RA.