Anemia overview
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Overview
Anemia is the most common disorder of the blood. Anemia (American English) or anæmia/anaemia (British English), from the Greek (Template:Polytonic) (an-haîma) meaning "without blood", is a deficiency of red blood cells (RBCs) and/or hemoglobin. This results in a reduced ability of blood to transfer oxygen to the tissues, causing tissue hypoxia. Since all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia can have a wide range of clinical consequences. Hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in the red blood cells) has to be present to ensure adequate oxygenation of all tissues and organs. The three main classes of anemia include excessive blood loss (acutely such as a hemorrhage or chronically through low-volume loss), excessive blood cell destruction (hemolysis) or deficient red blood cell production (ineffective hematopoiesis). Anemia is defined as a hemoglobin concentration (Hb) of less than 12 g/dL in women and less than 13 g/dL in men or hematocrit of 36% in women and 40% in men.