Symptoms Of Aplastic Anemia

Fatigue And Shortness Of Breath

Fatigue is a prevalent symptom of aplastic anemia as well as other types of anemia. Someone with aplastic anemia may feel more fatigued or short of breath than normal during or after exercise or from doing simple everyday activities. A healthy individual typically would not get winded doing chores, running errands or walking up a flight of stairs. However, someone with aplastic anemia will often feel fatigued or short of breath after these activities because they do not have the proper amount of blood cells to transport oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Though these may seem like minor symptoms, fatigue and shortness of breath can negatively affect aplastic anemia patients’ quality of life. Someone with these symptoms should go to the doctor to figure out what might be going on.

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Prolonged Bleeding

Individuals affected by aplastic anemia commonly experience the symptom of prolonged bleeding due to the effects of their blood and bone marrow condition. When healthy individuals experience bleeding inside or outside of the body, the coagulation cascade is triggered. The coagulation cascade is a combination of processes involving specialized proteins and platelets in the blood that form a blood clot to stop bleeding. Aplastic anemia patients have bone marrow that does not produce new blood cells as quickly as old blood cells are dying off. These blood cells include the red blood cells that carry oxygen, the white blood cells of the immune system, and platelets. The main component of blood vital for the coagulation cascade are platelets. Platelets are tiny blood cells that stick together to form a blood clot. A blood clot is unable to develop if there are not enough platelets present in an individual's blood. The bone marrow is responsible for the production of platelets. Individuals with aplastic anemia have platelets that die at the end of their life cycle and are not adequately replaced. This malfunction causes the patient to experience prolonged bleeding when a blood vessel becomes injured due to the body's inability to form blood clots properly.

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