Does anyone have congestive heart failure and Anemia?!
Question:
Does anyone have congestive heart failure and Anemia?
I am 32 nd have congestive heart failure. I have noticed that my Red bllod cell count is low, and my hemaglobin as well. I have heard that if these two are low then it could be anemia. Does Congestive Heart failure bring on Anemia???? Does anyone have both of these conditions?
Answers:
Anemia is actually a sign of a disease process rather than a disease itself.
Anemia is a frequent finding in patients with heart failure with a prevalence ranging from 4 to 55 percent depending upon the population studied. Because a low red blood cell count decreases oxygen delivery to every tissue in the body, anemia causes many signs and symptoms. It makes almost any other underlying medical condition worse. For example, if you have an underlying heart problem and become anemic, you are more likely to have problems associated with your heart disease than you would have if you were not anemic.
I had congestive heart failure because I had a "messed up" mitral valve, (mitral regurgitation) but I had my mitral valve replaced with a mechanical valve and am doing fine now. When I first was diagnosed with CHF and then they found my valve problem, I became anemic also. That was 4 years ago, I was 37 at the time.
The anemia may be incidental or directly related to CHF itself.
So the key point is may be, but not totally determined.
Read these articles also:
http://patients.uptodate.com/topic.asp?f...
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/anemi...
Best wishes.