Pediatric Anemia; A Guide to Cause, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

In the United States, seven percent of all children, between ages one and two, suffer from pediatric anemia with females more likely to suffer than males. Often debilitating and leading to delayed child development, understanding what causes anemia in children, anemic symptoms, process of diagnosising and treatment options, will aide a parent in seeking the appropriate medical attention.

Anemia in children can be caused by a variety of factors including genetics, vitamin deficiencies and iron deficiency. The most common factor being iron deficiency with three percent of males suffering compared to 20 percent of females. Genetic anemia may be attributed to the painful and often fatal, sickle cell anemia, commonly seen among children of Arabic and African American descent. To understand the implications of anemia, let's first examine how the body processes oxygen.

Within the body, the hemoglobin, found in the red blood cells, provide the body with oxygen. To do this, the body must be rich in iron as it is within the bone marrow where iron facilitates the production of the red blood cells.  When in an anemic state, blood laboratory tests will reveal the body contains too few red blood cells or the body may be destroying the cells at a rate greater than production.  Cause and origin of an amemia condition must then be addressed to determine appropriate treatment options.

Symptoms of anemia are varied and may include weakness, pale skin, frequent headache pain, dizziness, low body temperature and chest pain. In some cases, cognitive deficit or slowness may be present. Unfortunately, in small children, these anemica symptoms may be difficult to describe by the child especially in those who have not begun speech development.