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Anaemia

Prevalence
Causes
Clinical features
Investigations
Therapy
Prognosis
Causes

Common causes of anaemia in the elderly include a  b  
  • anaemia of chronic disease
  • iron-deficiency anaemia
  • recent bleeding
  • vitamin-B12/ folate deficiency
  • myelodysplastic syndrome and acute leukaemia
  • chronic leukaemia, lymphoma-related disorders
  • other haematological disorders (myelofibrosis, aplastic anaemia, haemolytic anaemia)
  • multiple myeloma 
 

Iron-deficiency anaemia

  • Two-thirds of cases are due to upper gastrointestinal disease. c
Common causes in the elderly include c  
  • peptic ulcer disease or erosions
  • colorectal neoplasia
  • gastric surgery
  • hiatus hernia (> 10 cm)
  • upper GI malignancy
  • angiodysplasia
  • oesophageal varices 
 

Vitamin B12 deficiency

Common causes include c

  • pernicious anaemia
  • tropical sprue
  • bowel resection
  • jejunal diverticula
  • cobalamin malabsorption
  • vegetarianism 
 

Folate deficiency

Common causes include c  
  • alcoholism
  • malnutrition  

Expiry date: September 2003
Levels of Evidence used in grading these guides

Authors   R   Dinniwell , CM   Ball
Reviewer   D   Chitnavas
CAT Writers   R   Dinniwell , CM   Bal, C Wottonl