Anemia during chemotherapy is very common but it is not majorly discussed compared to the other side effects of chemotherapy such as hair loss and chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. Anemia is caused because of a decrease in the number of red blood cells (RBCs) also known as low blood or poor iron blood. If the hemoglobin level or RBC counts drops, it leads to anemia. The normal range of RBC in men is 13.5 grams/100 ml and in women it is 12 grams/100 ml.

The RBC count reduces because of chemotherapy drugs that attack cancer cells. In its attempt to destroy the cancer cells other rapidly dividing cells such as RBCs are also destroyed. This is the major reason why people show a lot of side effects to   chemotherapy drugs. Anemia leads to fatigue and also causes other symptoms.

Causes of Anemia during chemotherapy

The cause of anemia during chemotherapy includes:

• Chemotherapy medicines: Chemotherapy medications destroy RBCs causing anemia. It also destroys other healthy cells, such as the white blood cells and hair follicles, which lead to hair loss, mouth sores, changes in taste and also makes the patients prone to infections. Nausea and vomiting, further reduces the intake of nutrients among cancer patients.
• Bleeding: If patients experience loss of blood which could be either during surgery or by coughing blood, it might cause anemia.
• Failure of Kidney: Kidney failure is most common among elderly patients. It possibly occurs owing to dehydration or the cancer itself.
• The cancer itself: Anemia even occurs because of the disease itself or because of nutritional deficiencies that occur from the treatment. Anemia is very common among many chronic diseases.

In order to diagnose anemia, a complete blood test is done before and after chemotherapy. The blood counts would determine how anemic the patient is. Physicians prescribe medications only on the basis of the blood count.

Anemia Symptoms

The symptoms of anemia include, fatigue, dizziness, breathlessness, headaches, lack of energy, chest pain, fast heart rate and a pale appearance.

Treatment for Anemia during chemotherapy

In many cases, mild anemia is dealt with simply changing your lifestyle or giving some time for the body to produce more RBCs. The patient is asked to take sufficient rest and include nutritious food in their diet. In other cases, if the RBC is very low, the following treatments might be recommended:

• Blood Transfusion: Blood transfusion increases the RBCs in the fastest way. The side effects of blood transfusion include, fever, chills and also reaction owing to blood transfusion. You may also get infected by a disease called hepatitis.
• Iron supplements intake: Iron supplements are recommended either orally or intravenously. Iron intake can cause a few side effects that include, stomach disorders, headaches, joint or muscle pain and the feeling of flushing. In rare cases, it also causes allergic reactions that could be serious.

The symptoms of anemia should be brought to your doctor’s attention immediately. If you feel fatigued in spite of taking adequate rest, if you become short of breath more often or if there is rapid increase in heart rate, you need to call the hospital and inform them about the symptoms immediately.