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Anemia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Iron deficiency anemia blood film
Blood film with iron deficiency anemia.
Sickle cell anemia
Sickle cell anemia. Normal red blood cells are shown in Figure 1; with sickle cell anemia, red blood cells look like figure 2

Anemia (U.S. spelling) or anaemia is not having enough red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood.

Types or causes of anemia

Microcytic anemia

  • Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia overall
  • Hemoglobinopathies—much rarer
    • Sickle-cell disease (once called sickle-cell anemia)
    • Thalassemia

Normocytic anemia

Macrocytic anemia

Dimorphic anemia

Dimorphic anemia means two types of anemia at the same time. For example, macrocytic hypochromic, due to hookworm infestation leading to not enough of both iron and vitamin B12 or folic acid or following a blood transfusion.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anemia para niños

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Anemia Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.