10) Anemia
Frequent gastrointestinal bleeding may also lead to anemia, which is a reduction to the normal levels of hemoglobin in the blood. Frequent blood loss that overcomes the capacity of the organism to produce new hemoglobin results in this condition, which is often felt as weakness and lightheadedness, but may also be asymptomatic.
Another common cause of anemia is the resulting dietary alteration when patients have sustained difficulty swallowing and pain while eating. Patients may start adopting a soft diet with insufficient nutrients to maintain healthy levels of hemoglobin. For example, they may stop having meat and other important sources of vitamin B, which leads to B vitamin deficiency and anemia as one of many manifestations.
Patients with anemia may have severe signs and symptoms leading them to the emergency room while others would go undetected, but all of them will have low levels of hemoglobin that only a blood test would detect. Thus, it is important not to trust on signs and symptoms alone, and ask your doctor about your symptoms to get the most appropriate management of your condition.
