Question

Anna has completed chemotherapy with great success when it comes to battling her cancer. However, she’s been feeling more fatigued than usual, her skin is pale, and she has shortness of breath and diarrhea not attributed to her treatment. Her blood test results indicate that Anna is anemic.

Question 2: Identify and describe the type of anemia that Anna is suffering from, and what may have caused it. Discuss the role of the vitamin involved in red blood cell production, as well as how deficiency may affect other functions in the body. You will need to defend your answer using specific facts, data, and other information drawn from a supplemental source.

Answer 1

Treatment of chemotherapy lead to killing to normal cell in bone marrow . Due to destroying of bone marrow, there will be less RBC produced, and less oxygen will be supplied to body which lead to fatigue. Thus typs of anemia is known as chemotherapy induced anemia ( CIA).

In the patients , anemia can result from insufficient production or due to  rapid loss, destruction or dysfunction of red blood cells. Multiple etiologies may be responsible for anemia in cancer patients. There is suppression of bone marrow which lead to decreased  production of erythropoietic stem cells. Some times chemotherapy may cause renal dysfunction which lead to decreased erythropoietin release and that will affect the rate of erythropoiesis. Apart of that deficiency of minerals such as iron can result in insufficient capacity of red blood cells to transport oxygen. Iron deficiency can be the result of inadequate iron intake or blood loss.

Role of minerals in RBC production

Various minerals such as fe and cu participate during synthesis of Hb in the RBC . Both are required to make healthy RBC. Fe is directly incorporated in Haem moiety ot binds with the oxygen molecule and help in transport of oxygen to the tissue.

B group vitamin ( B6, B9 and B12) also involved in formation of Hb. They are involved in activation of various enzyme in the Hb synthesis pathway . Thus they also affect synthesis of Hb . So deficiency of these vitamins lead to formation of defective HB which are not efficient in transporting oxygen to the body.