Adenoiditis: An Infection of Your Infection-Fighting Tissue?
The word “adenoid” means “little nose”. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a chemical messenger involved in energy production. When it’s released from cells, ATP helps muscles contract and increases blood flow to the heart. The body uses ATP for many vital functions such as muscle contraction, breathing, digestion, and circulation. When there is too much or not enough ATP, the body responds with symptoms like fatigue, weakness, and fever.
In some cases, excessive amounts of ATP are produced inside the cell called “anemia.” The most common cause of anemia is low levels of red blood cells (RBC). RBCs carry oxygen around your body.
If they’re missing, then you won’t get enough oxygen in your system to function properly.
Anemia can lead to other problems including poor growth, impaired vision, hearing loss, and kidney failure. Other causes of anemia include infections and medications used to treat them.
A normal amount of red blood cells is approximately 50 grams (1 ounce). A person with anemic conditions may have less than 20 grams (0.8 ounces), which makes their hemoglobin level lower than average.
Hemoglobin is the molecule that carries oxygen around your body. When someone has anemia they can experience the following symptoms:
Dizziness
Weakness
Fatigue
Shortness of breath
Rapid heart rate
Headaches
Pale skin
Chest pain
Confusion or changes in behavior (e.g. irritability)
A feeling of “tingling” or numbness in the hands and feet owing to a shortage of oxygen reaching these areas of the body.
In children and infants, anemia can lead to failure to grow.
There are many causes of anemia. The most common include:
Iron deficiency: The most common cause of anemia is not having enough iron in the body. Low levels of iron in the body can be caused by diarrhea and other conditions that cause bleeding from the digestive tract, as well as heavy menstrual periods.
Other common causes of anemia include:
Blood diseases (e.g. thalassemia and sideroblastia)
Kidney disease or failure
Pernicious anemia, where the stomach makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients from food
Gastrointestinal bleeding (e.g. ulcers)
Inadequate nutrition (e.g. poor diet, starvation, eating disorder)
Pregnancy
There are also certain medications that can cause anemia, such as:
Aspirin and other Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (e.g. ibuprofen)
Chloroquine, a malaria medication
The treatment for most forms of anemia is to give patients iron supplements by mouth or injection.
Sources & references used in this article:
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Why Emerging Infectious Diseases Are a Threat to America by DRA WEIL – myfourpointschiropractor.com
… : A Summary of the Bibliographic Material Available in the Field of Otolaryngology: TONSILLITIS AND TONSILLECTOMY: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE OF 1924 by AW Proetz – Archives of Otolaryngology, 1925 – jamanetwork.com
STRENGTHENING YOUR CHILD’S IMMUNE SYSTEM by K Wassung – 1990 – cdn2.perfectpatients.com
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