ANEMIA AND OTHER
BLOOD DISORDERS
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© February 2019, LD
Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All information in this article is
solely the opinion of the author and is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment,
prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.
I. INTRODUCTION
Definitions. Anemia basically signifies a low red
blood cell count or a low hemoglobin level in the blood serum. It is an important symptom because
hemoglobin contained in the red blood cells carries oxygen from the lungs to
every cell in the body.
When one is
anemic, oneÕs energy level decreases and one can become easily tired. If the condition is extreme, oxygen
starvation occurs with many other problems such as fainting, low resistance to
infections, and inadequate oxygenation of the tissues.
How blood is
produced. Blood is produced in the marrow of all the long bones of the
body. This may seem like an
unusual place for blood formation, but the reason for it is that the bones
actually protect the marrow from most contamination due to various toxins,
including toxic metals.
Today, however, most people have some toxic metals
in the bone marrow itself. This is
one reason for blood disorders.
Once the red blood cells are formed in the marrow,
they circulate for about four months before they are destroyed in the
spleen. Their components are then
recycled to make new red and white blood cells. This is actually a fascinating process and one that can go
awry due to many factors.
Anemia
is a very common and important symptom.
There are many types of anemia, often divided into:
1) Those
caused by low or inadequate production of red blood cells, and
2) Those
caused by too rapid destruction of red blood cells. Usually this occurs
when the red blood cells are not healthy and robust.
Toxic metals. Most toxic metals can cause anemias. This
is largely overlooked by doctors because there is no easy way to measure all
the toxic metals, especially deep in the bone marrow where blood is made.
Copper anemia. A very common type of anemia that is
not well understood by doctors is due to copper imbalance. It is usually mild, and on tests it
looks exactly like iron deficiency anemia. Doctors give iron for it. However, taking iron does not correct it completely.
It is much
more common in women, and not because of blood loss due to menstruation. Women have more copper imbalance than
men. To correct it, one must
correct the copper imbalance. This
requires a nutritional balancing program, in most cases.
II. CAUSES FOR ANEMIA
COMMON CAUSES
Copper
imbalance. Anemia due to a copper imbalance is the most common type of anemia in
the industrialized world due to widespread copper imbalance in the population. Many, if not most apparent iron deficiency anemias are caused by copper imbalance.
These cases do not respond well to iron therapy. Taking an iron supplement when copper
imbalance is present often just poisons the body with iron! Instead, these individuals require a development
program to correct the copper imbalance.
Biologically available copper is required for the
conversion of iron from the ferric to the ferrous form, and back again, to
produce hemoglobin. Bioavailable copper is also
required to incorporate iron into the hemoglobin molecule.
Signs and symptoms are those of a mild, chronic, microcytic, microchromic
anemia. It is most common in
teenage and adult women, although it can occur in anyone.
While anemia due to copper imbalance appears
identical on blood tests to iron deficiency anemia, the cause and correction is
very different. A hair mineral
analysis can help distinguish the two types. Taking iron is not helpful, and, in fact, taking iron
supplements is very harmful when it is not needed. I take a lot of young women, in particular, off iron
supplements when their anemia is due to copper imbalance, and they recover fully.Iron
deficiency. Adequate iron
is needed in everyone as it is the central atom of the
hemoglobin molecule. Iron
deficiency is most common in poor nations where people do not eat meat and
eggs. It also occurs in some cases
of pregnancy, and in young women who have very heavy menstrual periods. It can also occur in some
vegetarians who do not eat meat or eggs.
Finally, it can occur due to hidden bleeding somewhere in the body. For example, bleeding could be due to
an ulcer, a cancer or to an accident or injury.
Iron deficiency produces a microcytic,
microchromic anemia, meaning that the red blood cells
are too small, and they are not very red when viewed under a microscope. This is a hallmark of this type of
anemia.
Simple iron deficiency anemia is not that common in
the industrialized world, and is easy to take care of by adding more meat and
eggs to the diet, in most cases.
One can also take an iron supplement, although most regular iron
supplements are hard on the intestines and often cause constipation. Chelated iron
or liver tablets are much better, if these are needed.
WARNING: Beware, however, of three critical facts about
iron deficiency anemia today.
A. In my experience, simple iron deficiency anemia
is not that common in the industrialized nations, except during pregnancy,
among some vegetarians and in a few young women with extremely heavy menstrual
periods.
B. Copper anemia exactly mimics iron deficiency
anemia, and is far more common. It
causes a microcytic, microchromic
anemia exactly like iron deficiency, can cause low ferritin,
and it is extremely common.
Doctors often give women iron for this condition, which only makes the
women more ill! It is discussed
below.
C. Iron is very toxic when in excess. Therefore, beware of taking iron or
eating loads of meat every day. In
fact, iron overload is extremely common, as revealed on hair mineral tests and
medical articles. Our bodies have
trouble removing iron, so iron easily can build up in the body, where it causes
or contributes to all the major diseases of our time. These include arthritis, inflammation, heart disease,
diabetes and cancer. For more on
this, read Chronic Acquired Iron Toxicity on this
website.
B12 deficiency,
also called pernicious anemia. This is a less common
anemia that occurs mainly in older people, in some vegetarians, and in some
people who low levels of hydrochloric acid in the
stomach or low digestive enzymes, in general.
Most people lose some ability to absorb vitamin B12
from their food as they age. This
is a serious problem for many over the age of 60 or perhaps younger, especially
if the digestive tract is in poor condition or if one is under a lot of
stress. Vitamin B12 is found
mainly in animal foods, so vegetarians, especially vegans, are much more prone
to this serious condition.
Vitamin
B12 deficiency causes a macrocytic or
so-called pernicious
anemia. It can cause permanent
brain damage with symptoms of confusion, memory loss, dementia and even
death. It is
often missed by doctors in its early stages. A mild B12 anemia may also occur in vegetarians, or others
who do not eat much meat or eggs.
The cost of supplementary vitamin B12 is so low that this simple problem
ought to receive more attention by the medical community. It is also a reason why everyone needs
a digestive aid, especially older people.
Lead and
other toxic metals. Lead
poisoning is well known for causing a type of anemia that can be fatal. Hidden lead toxicity may be responsible
for anemias of chronic
disease. This is seen commonly
with cancer and other degenerative diseases. Elevated lead is often not revealed on any tests until it is
eliminated from the body using a nutritional balancing program or some other
method. Lead is often hidden
because it is deposited deep within bone marrow and other inaccessible areas of
the body.
One
or more years may be required to mobilize hidden lead with nutritional
balancing science. Chelation therapy with EDTA and other drugs only removes
more superficial lead deposits, in general, and unfortunately also removes
essential minerals such as calcium and zinc. Therefore, we never recommend chelation
and we donÕt require it to remove lead and all the toxic metals.
Other toxins. A
good example is the anemia that usually accompanies cancer. This is caused by a
toxin secreted by the cancer cells that poisons the bone marrow.
Heavy menstrual periods, especially
if combined with a diet low in iron.
This is a problem for some women.
Vegetarian diets also lead to heavy menstrual
periods. Eating animal products
can solve this problem.
Hidden internal bleeding. This
can also cause anemia, although it is a less common cause.
OTHER VITAMIN AND MINERAL IMBALANCES
ASSOCIATED WITH ANEMIA
Vitamin C
deficiency may interfere with iron absorption.
Vitamin E
deficiency affects the stability of the red blood cell membranes. Low
vitamin E also causes a macrocytic anemia with
shortened lifespans of the red blood cells.
Copper deficiency
can impair iron absorption and incorporation of iron into hemoglobin. This is essentially identical with the
copper-induced anemia described above but is due to a frank copper deficiency
instead of bounavaliabe copper.
Zinc deficiency
can cause a higher copper, which, in turn, interferes with iron metabolism.
Vitamin B6
deficiency can inhibit synthesis of the heme portion
of the hemoglobin molecule.
Vitamin B2 or B5
deficiencies, while rare, may cause anemias.
Rarely, excess
zinc intake can interfere with iron absorption and cause a copper deficiency. It
also decreases copper and iron levels in the liver. This can affect the incorporation and release of iron from
liver ferritin.
It may also increase the fragility of red blood cells.
Folic acid
deficiency, while rare, can cause
a macrocytic, macrochromic
anemia similar to B12 deficiency anemia.
OTHER
CAUSES FOR ANEMIA
Drug-caused
anemia. This is another extremely common type of anemia due to
internal bleeding, usually from the stomach. It is most
commonly seen in older people who use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for
pain such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Aleve and the others. These drugs damage the stomach lining
and cause chronic internal bleeding in thousands upon thousands of people. Some die as a result. Stopping the drugs is usually
sufficient to correct the cause of the anemia. I would suggest always avoiding long-term use of these drugs
for this very reason, as often the bleeding is hard to detect until the anemia
is far advanced.
Chronic
infections. These may cause anemia by an
interesting mechanism. The body
may sequester iron to keep it out of the blood stream during some infections
because iron tends to favor the growth of certain bacteria in the body. One must correct the infection and the
anemia most often subsides.
Other infective organisms such as beta-hemolytic
strep may destroy red blood cells.
Cancers. Cancers
develop extensive networks of blood vessels and these sometimes rupture,
causing internal bleeding. This
will result in an anemic condition, at times with no other symptoms at all.
Parasitic
infection. In some areas of the world, leeches,
other blood-sucking parasites, and worms that may live inside the body can
siphon off enough blood to cause anemia.
This is rare in developed nations, however.
Chemical
poisoning. Pesticide exposure or something else
will occasionally cause unusual blood disorders of many kinds. In general, the chemical poisons the
bone marrow in some way and this impairs proper blood formation. However, other mechanisms may be present
as well, such as weakening the red blood cells and hastening their
destruction. Nutritional balancing
programs can usually remove most toxic chemicals from the body.
Sickle cell anemia and thalasemias. These
are more genetically-related anemias
found respectively in negro populations and Southern European populations. They are due to enzyme
deficiencies. It is possible that
nutritional balancing, however, may even help to keep these anemias
in check.
VEGETARIAN
AND SEMI-VEGETARIAN DIETS, AND ANEMIA
Diets
low in meats and eggs are a critically important cause of anemia today. These diets are low in good-quality
iron and they are too high in copper.
In addition, they are low in zinc, which protects the body against too
much copper. Such diets are also
low in vitamin B12, especially strict vegetarian and vegan diets.
As
a result, these diets cause both pernicious anemia due
to low vitamin B12. However, they
cause an anemia that looks exactly like iron deficiency anemia, even if one
takes iron. The anemia, as
explained in the sections above, is due to biounavailable
copper. This is a widespread cause
of fatigue, lowered resistance to disease and other problems today, especially
for women.
ANEMIA AS A SYMPTOM OF A HEALING OR
PURIFICATION REACTION
I
recently had a client whose longstanding anemia became worse, all of a sudden,
during a nutritional balancing program.
Her anemia had been chronic for years, and unresponsive to conventional
medical therapy. She was also
diabetic for years.
I
determined that the anemia was probably due to lead or copper toxicity. During her nutritional balancing
program, she went through a significant release of lead into her bloodstream as
it was mobilized from storage sites in her pancreas, liver and elsewhere. When this occurred, she felt more tired
and a blood test revealed a worsening of her anemia.
Doctors were
frightened and even considered surgery to look for internal bleeding, although
she had no other signs of distress.
Fortunately, on repeated blood tests every few days, doctors found that
her anemia was mysteriously improving on its own. This is exactly the sequence of events
of a typical healing reaction, with spontaneous improvement in signs or
symptoms without a need for medical intervention of any kind. However, it was the first time I ran
across a worsening of anemia as part of a purification reaction.
As an aside,
her diabetes improved at the same time.
Lead, cadmium, iron and other toxic metals easily accumulate in the
pancreas and can be responsible for some cases of diabetes.
OTHER BLOOD DISORDERS
There
are many unusual types of blood disorders, most of which are uncommon. They may affect the red blood cells,
white cells, the platelets or other blood components. In my limited experience with these conditions, improving
the nutritional balance and removing toxic metals and toxic chemicals from the
body in the systematic fashion that is possible with nutritional balancing
science can have a beneficial effect in these cases.
Each case is
different, however, so one cannot generalize more than to suggest that this
method be tried first, as it is simple and non-invasive. For more on these
blood disorders, please read Blood Disorders
on this site.
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