Anemia

What Is Anemia?

Maybe your day is so packed with things to do that you hardly have time to grab breakfast, let alone make sure you're eating right the rest of the day. Perhaps you're staying up late to get your homework finished and missing out on the sleep you need. The fact is, lots of teens are tired. And with all the demands of school and other activities, it's easy to understand why.
For some people, though, there may be another explanation for why they feel so exhausted: anemia.
To understand anemia, it helps to start with breathing. The oxygen we inhale doesn't just stop in our lungs. It's needed throughout our bodies to fuel the brain and all our other organs and tissues that allow us to function. Oxygen travels to these organs through the bloodstream — specifically in the red blood cells.
Red blood cells, or RBCs, are manufactured in the body's bone marrow and act like boats, ferrying oxygen throughout the rivers of the bloodstream. RBCs contain hemoglobin (pronounced: hee-muh-glow-bin), a protein that holds onto oxygen. To make enough hemoglobin, the body needs to have plenty of iron. We get this iron, along with the other nutrients necessary to make red blood cells, from food.
Anemia occurs when a person has fewer RBCs than normal. This can happen for three main reasons:

1. Red blood cells are being lost.
2. The body is producing RBCs slower than it should.
3. RBCs are being destroyed by the body.

Each of these causes is linked to a different type of anemia.