Anaemia

Anaemia, or Bloodlessness, the condition in which the blood contains less than the proper amount of solid constituents. There is in particular a deficiency of red blood corpuscles. Poverty of blood may result from various forms of disease, thus copious bleeding will produce a temporary anaemia, and any bad habit of body may be accompanied by poorness of blood. The term anaemia, however, is usually applied to those conditions in which the small amount of the solid constituents of the blood seems to be the primary source of trouble, and of this disease there are two varieties. The one occurs mainly in young girls, and is known as green sickness or chlorosis (q.v.); the other, which is very much more rarely met with, is "progressive pernicious anaemia." The most noticeable symptom of anaemia is pallor, the poorness of blood revealing itself in the waxy look of the face, and particularly in the loss of the natural colour of the lips and cheeks; other distressing features of the disease are breathlessness, palpitation, headache, and general debility. The treatment of anaemia is in most cases eminently satisfactory - fresh air, good food, and the administration of iron are usually followed by a speedy recovery; indeed, the beneficial effects of medicine in suitable cases sometimes appear well-nigh miraculous; unfortunately but little can be done for true pernicious anaemia; the disease is, however, excessively uncommon.