I thought it was anemia, but it turned out to be cancer?
Aunt Zhao is 65 years old. A few months ago, she often felt weak and dizzy. She thought it was anemia, so she bought red dates to “supplement blood”. After making up for a month, the symptoms became more and more serious until he fainted and was beaten by his family for 120 and sent to the hospital.
I did an examination and found that I really had anemia, and the hemoglobin was 6 grams, only half of the normal person! But things are far from simple. Colonoscopy found that Aunt Zhao had a tumor in her intestines, and bowel cancer was the cause of Aunt Zhao’s anemia.
Anemia is encountered by many people, and most people only think about diet to replenish blood, but they don’t know that there may be cancer behind them.
I. Anemia may be a warning of cancer
Anemia refers to the decrease in the volume of red blood cells in the peripheral blood of the human body, which is lower than the lower limit of the normal value, and the hemoglobin cannot be sufficient transport of oxygen to the tissues, resulting in clinical syndromes. Hemoglobin in the human body is mainly located in red blood cells, therefore, anemia is also called hypohemoglobinemia.
The manifestations of anemia will vary depending on the individual’s constitution and severity. Mild anemia may not have any symptoms, but as anemia worsens, symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, cold hands and feet may appear.
It is important to note that anemia is not a disease but a common symptom of many diseases. So when anemia is diagnosed, the first thing to do is to understand why our body is anemia?
Ding Xiaoqing, Physician of Dongfang Hospital of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine said that many elderly people will find that they are anemic during physical examination, thinking it is a “small problem”, and it is good to eat some blood-enriching food , As everyone knows, there are many reasons for senile anemia.
1. Malnutrition and physical decline
The elderly adopt an inappropriate restrictive diet, such as a simple vegetarian diet, with extremely low protein and fat intake. In addition, with the increase of age, the elderly will lose their teeth, atrophy their taste buds, and reduce their gastrointestinal function, which will also affect nutrient absorption, resulting in a lack of hematopoietic raw materials and insufficient production of red blood cells or hemoglobin.
2. Drug effects
The elderly are often accompanied by chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, etc., and need to rely on drugs to control the disease. Among them, antiplatelet drugs, about 2% of patients will cause anemia due to blood loss in the digestive tract after taking the drugs, and some bone marrow suppressive drugs may also cause anemia.
3. Effects of disease, including cancer
Suffering from chronic infection, rheumatic disease, kidney Lesions, malignant tumors, blood diseases and other diseases can lead to anemia.
Some malignant tumors have no obvious symptoms, but anemia is the first manifestation. For example, tumors of the digestive system such as stomach cancer, intestinal cancer, liver cancer, and esophageal cancer will directly affect the absorption of hematopoietic substances, resulting in anemia over time. 10%～40% of tumor patients may have anemia, especially in gastric cancer, colon cancer, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, the incidence of anemia can reach 50% to 60%.
Second, what kind of anemia may be related to cancer?
Of course, not all anemias are necessarily caused by malignant tumors. To judge whether there is a malignant tumor, two conditions are generally needed:
1. No cause found, long duration
Patients with chronic anemia are asymptomatic and no cause can be identified; or the degree of anemia in the elderly is mild, the symptoms are not obvious, and the duration is long
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2. Anemia with multiple symptoms
Anemia caused by esophageal cancer may be accompanied by dysphagia and vomiting after eating; Anemia may be accompanied by blood in the stool and changes in bowel habits at the same time; anemia caused by gastric cancer is often accompanied by epigastric discomfort, nausea and vomiting, etc.
Third, don’t only eat red dates for anemia!
When it comes to the topic of blood supplementation, many people would suggest using jujube to supplement blood. Can eating dates often treat anemia?
According to the “Chinese Food Composition Table”, the iron content of red dates is about 2.1mg/100g, which is only 1/6 of the iron content of dried cabbage. Iron in plants is inorganic iron, absorption rate is only 1%-5%, while the absorption rate of iron in meat is as high as 20%-30%.
It is known that the iron requirement of an elderly person is about 15mg iron per day, and the elderly with anemia need more during the period of anemia. According to 100g of dried jujube, the highest absorption rate is 5%, 15÷2.1%÷5%=14285.71g=14.3kg, that is to say, an old man needs to eat at least 14kg of jujube, to meet the iron supplementation.
Not to mention that the jujube itself is high in sugar, eating more may also induce diabetes.
4. What should I really eat to replenish blood for anemia?
For iron deficiency anemia, throughFood supplementation can help relieve it, so which foods are really high in iron and easy to absorb?
1. Red meat such as pork, beef, mutton, etc.
Red meat is rich in hemoglobin iron, and beef tenderloin contains about 3.3mg/ 100g, lean pork iron 3mg/100g, lamb ham iron 2.7mg/100g. Red meat is a class 2A carcinogen, and the intake ratio needs to be controlled, and an average daily consumption of 40-75g is appropriate.
2. Animal liver
The iron content of animal liver is also higher, for example, the iron content of pig liver is about 22.6mg/100g
strong>, chicken liver contains 12mg/100g of iron, and foie gras contains 7.8mg/100g of iron. However, the liver contains high fat, so it is not advisable to eat more, about 20g each time.
3. Animal blood
“Blood with blood” really makes sense. The heme content of blood of various animals is relatively high, such as duck blood containing iron 30.5mg/100g, chicken blood iron 25mg/100g, pig blood Contains 8.7mg/100g of iron.
4. Some vegetables and fruits
The iron content of black fungus and pine mushrooms in plants is very high, and the iron content of black fungus can reach 97.4mg /100g, pine mushroom is about 86mg/100g. In addition, the mustard greens in vegetables are also high in iron, about 17.2 mg/100 grams.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are also rich in vitamin C, folic acid, etc., which can help the transformation and utilization of iron and prevent anemia.
Xiao Ai would like to remind everyone at the end that anemia cannot blindly replenish blood, the key is to find out the cause. Perfunctory work, it is likely to delay the diagnosis and treatment of primary diseases, which will have a huge impact on the body. To prevent anemia, the most important thing is to eat a balanced diet and ensure adequate nutrition.
References:
[1] “The initial symptoms of anemia are mild, so don’t take it seriously? You may have underestimated it…”. Popular Science China. 2022-01-22
[2] “Anemia in the Elderly Should Be Alert to Malignant Tumors”. Medicine Health and Health News. 2016-10-18
[3] “Red dates and brown sugar do not replenish blood! These are the foods that really nourish blood”. Guangming.2018-12-17