Anemia

Anemia may mean two things:

• A decreased level of Hb (hemoglobin) in the blood, in absolute numbers. This may mean that the level of Hb in the red blood cells is low, or that the level of red blood cells (which contain all the Hb in the blood) is low.
• A decreased capacity of each Hb molecule to bind oxygen, due to a deformity.

Low Hb level

When we talk about anemia in this article, we talk about the type of anemia in which the level of Hb in the blood is lower than normal. There are multiple possible causes (and therefore multiple possible solutions).

• Low serum iron

Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a iron-containing protein in the blood. Hb transports oxygen (and some other gasses, such as CO₂ and nitric oxide) to all your organs. Organs need oxygen to make use of nutrients (including energy) through oxidation. A lower level of Hb may therefore lead to a (relative) lack of oxygen in various organs.