I would like to address one of the most common medical issues, which at the same
time is also the least discussed and treated one: chronic weakness, or in other words –
Anemia.
Many people feel chronic weakness and fatigue and turn to their family doctor. In
most cases, the doctor's response is this or that kind of "virus", with a
recommendation for a rest. With this usually ends the medical discussion of this very
common phenomenon, which is neither defined nor diagnosed, and therefore, is
unsuccessfully and inefficiently treated.
One of the most common causes for this chronic weakness and fatigue is anemia,
which has the inaccurate definition of mere "blood deficiency". As is the case with
many of the medical terms, anemia too is a collective term for a number of blood
pathologies, originating from different root causes.
Anemia manifests as poor supply of oxygen and nutrients essential to all bodily
tissues. This causes various symptoms, such as: fatigue and lack of energy, dizziness,
pale complexion, headaches, breathing problems, palpitations, lack of concentration
as well as decreased cognitive function, such as memory and thought ability, sleeping
problems, moodiness and depression, numbness of the limbs, abdominal pain, nausea,
constipation, clumsiness and lack of flexible movement, jaundice, colour change of
urine and stools, gallstones, ulcers and halted thriving in babies and toddlers. While
many tend to belittle anemia and "live with it" for many years, eventually, it means
constant starvation of the body and persistent deterioration of bodily functions, until
the system collapses and a serious disease erupts.
The problem intensifies due to the undiagnosed anemia by the medical establishment,
even though it is easily detectible in a regular blood work. In any case, the medical
establishment lacks the proper tools to deal and efficiently treat anemia. Usually the
medical establishment sends off the patient with an iron supplement prescription, but
almost all of these supplements are synthetic, and therefore, cannot be properly
absorbed in the gut. Moreover, the iron deficiency is usually not the main problem to
begin with and so in many cases, prescribing iron supplements can even cause harm
due to iron overload.
Firstly, it needs to be clarified that anemia does not always manifest as merely "blood
deficiency". There are many cases, in which RBC count or the number of hemoglobin
molecules does not indicate a significant deficiency, if any, in blood quantity. In most
cases, the examination of the blood test ends here, and the physician sends off the
patient telling them "all is OK". However, counting the number of hemoglobin chains
implies nothing about the quality of the RBCs. The number of the RBCs can even be
more or less within the normal range, but the contents of the blood cell might be
lacking or damaged, and this nullifies that red blood cell efficiency. This is illustrated
in an example of a letter being sent to its address: if the envelope does not contain an
actual letter, it is of no use.
Each red blood cell must contain a certain equal amount of iron and protein. In most
cases, the problem lies in fact in a chronic protein deficiency (and the reasons for that
need to be summed up in a separate article), and this is why iron supplements
prescriptions not only do not help the problem, but rather worsen it. As said, there are
several kinds of anemia, for example: microcytic anemia (characterized by iron
deficiency based on chronic protein deficiency), macrocytic anemia (characterized by
vitamin B12 deficiency) and pernicious anemia (characterized by deficiency in both
protein and B12 and is common in cases of long term undiagnosed and untreated
anemia).
Therefore, in order to diagnose the deeper pathology of blood quality, we cannot
simply make do with the results of the hemoglobin and RBC tests, merely counting
hemoglobin chains and RBC membranes. We need to continue and further check the
results of other parameters included in the blood test, both in its chemistry chapter and
the CDC chapter. Unfortunately, in most cases not enough attention is being paid to
these parameters, there is no crosschecking of the data and often most of these
essential parameters, such as the amount of protein within the RBC (represented by
ferritin) are not even included in the list of blood tests issued by the physician to the
lab.
In this way, a pathology of blood quality goes undiagnosed for months and years, and
overtime can become serious, manifesting clear symptoms of anemia – even though
the quantity of blood remains marginally normal.
In this article, we have discussed how either blood quantity deficiency or blood
quality deficiency, or both, can cause anemia. Merely checking the quantity of blood
cells or hemoglobin chains does not suffices, and more often than not, the prevalent
and difficult problem lies in blood quality deficiency.
What are its causes? This will be discussed in article no. 2 of this most important
topic.
In the previous article, we established that anemia manifests itself through a great
variety of symptoms and phenomena. We have also discussed how anemia embodies
a deeper pathology with vast affects, because the blood nourishes all bodily systems
and organs. Furthermore, the blood is not merely a fluid passing in between the
tissues and organs to supply nutrients, like petrol for a car engine. The blood is an
organ by itself with its own characteristics and various and diverse functions.
The blood system is exceptional in its wisdom, because it adapts its characteristics as
it reaches each and every organ. As it reaches the liver, its colour, odour and taste
change accordingly, and in the same way it chances its characteristics as it reaches the
brain and passes through the Blood-Brain barrier, and changes again its characteristics
as it reaches the spleen, lungs, kidneys, etc.
The blood changes its texture, structure, colour, odour and taste according to the
functions of each organ. In this way, we can see how all bodily systems and organs
are both influenced and influencing the blood. For example, the kidneys filter an
average of 1.8 liters of blood every 5 minutes, and separate the pure from the impure
in a complex process. The impure becomes the urine, which is secreted through the
urinary bladder, and the pure goes up to moisten the various organs for their efficient
function. The same goes for each and every organ, as the blood plays a fundamental
role in facilitating their various functions. Therefore, the quantity and quality of the
blood have a crucial effect on the proper function of all bodily organs and systems. If
there is a deficiency of blood in either quality or quantity, or both, it will necessarily
disrupt the proper function of bodily organs and system, thereby creating pathologies.
Any problem in the quantity and quality of the blood is caused by either nutrition
deficient in essential nutrients, (such as proteins, lipids, carbs, vitamins and minerals),
or by an inadequate function of the digestive system, preventing proper digestion and
absorption of those food nutrients.
As a side remark and without an in-depth discussion at this point (as I am well aware
of this subject's sensitivity), I would like to add that one of the major causes of anemia
of any kind is deficiency in animal-derived protein. This will be discussed in a
separate article, as it requires an in-depth explanation to get down to the root of
things. On a personal level, I must add that the need to kill animals to preserve my
own health makes me very uneasy. However, we must study and fully comprehend
the results of abstaining from animal-derived protein in our nutrition, to enable each
one of us a thoroughly informed personal decision on this matter.
Another important point I would like to make is that the human body is not the same
as a manufactured machine. For example, if a car lacks gear oil or break oil, then all
we have to do is to simply pour those oils into their respective places, and the car can
go again the way it is meant to. On the other end, the human body is a much more
complex creation, and even today after all the research and studies done on it, the
unknown is still much greater than the known. Therefore, the concept of taking all
kinds of supplements to "complete what is missing" is neither professional nor
efficient, and it does not heal the pathology. Furthermore, there is the issues of the
quality of all those supplements and their dubious contents. "Completing what is
missing" through popping supplements constitutes a fundamental misunderstanding of
physiology, pathology and the workings of bodily metabolism. Only an in-depth
investigation of each and every case can bring about a precise identification and
analysis of the way the pathology was formed. As written in other PRAIUM
MEDICINE articles, works and case studies, it is impossible to prescribe everyone
with the same medicine based on just a name-tag of a disease. There are various root
causes for every pathology and the specific conditions and constitution characteristics
of each and every patient need to be considered too for a complete diagnosis. Only
when taking all of these into account is it possible to reach a precise diagnosis,
including the root causes of the pathology, the pathology creation process, what
systems and organs are involved in the pathological process and how do they
influence each other. Finding the underlying causes and taking into account all these
considerations is the crucial basis for a successful and specific treatment strategy with
long term results. When the digestive system function is fully restored, it does what it
is naturally meant to do, so there is no need for all these questionable supplements
anymore.
In our next article, we will discuss the various factors forming the various types of
anemia. By that, we will be able to start realizing the extent to which such a
seemingly simple and straightforward health issue actually requires an in-depth and
intensive looking into.
