Grandmother age 92 with CHF and low blood

[Encephalomalcia]

My grandmother is 92 years old.  She has Congestive Heart Failure and her kidneys are not working perfectly.  She was admitted to the hospital after having shortness of breath, dizziness, legs swelling.  Her blood was low down to 7.2 and she was given 2 units of blood.  Her blood was up to 9.5 in three days.  Today they discharged her from the hospital to go home.  Her blood at the time of discharge wsa 8.5.  What could be happening to her that her blood is not staying at the 9.5?  

[mini_d]

Hi,

There are many causes for anemia in your grandmother.

Kidney disease causes anemia, because red blood cells are destroyed rapidly and erythropoietin levels are low. This means there in inadequate stimulus for the bone marrow to produce RBCs to compensate for those lost.

In addition, inadequate diet, blood loss from the gut (due to ulcers or worm infestation), inadequate absorption of iron as well as proteins and other nutrients (like Vit B12, folic acid), certain drugs and infections, cancers which in general develop more in the elderly: any of these causes or a combination of these can lead to anemia.

Regards

[Dr J Singh]

Hi,

It’s definitely not a good sign to have low Hb. Low hemoglobin puts more strain on the heart and it’s advisable to have hemoglobin as close to normal as possible. Low hemoglobin means a more dilute blood and thus heart has to work more pushing the blood. Please ensure your grandmother takes some iron/folic acid/vit b12 tablets depending on the underlying cause of anemia.

I hope that helps. Please do keep me posted. Warm Regards.