Hypochromic anemia is caused by a lack of hemoglobin pigment in red blood cells, often due to iron deficiency, thalassemia, or lead poisoning. Symptoms include fatigue, pale skin, and irregular heartbeat. Diagnosis involves blood tests to measure the size and amount of hemoglobin in red blood cells.
Hypochromic anemia is a general term for the types of anemia that cause the body’s red blood cells to have less color than usual. The cells are paler because they have less oxygen-carrying hemoglobin pigment than normal. The most common cause of hypochromic anemia is iron deficiency, but it can also be caused by lead poisoning or a condition known as thalassemia.
Anemic red blood cells are identified as being hypochromic by looking at blood samples under a microscope. Red blood cell (RBC) tests are common tests for diagnosing anemia, and such blood tests usually consist of three specific sections. These are the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) test, which measures the average size of red blood cells; the mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) test, which measures the amount of hemoglobin per red blood cell; and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) test, which measures the amount of hemoglobin relative to the average size of red blood cells.
Hypochromic cells have less than 27 picograms of hemoglobin per cell. In addition to being hypochromic, anemic cells can also be microcytic, which means that the cells are smaller than usual. While hypochromic cells are paler than normal, hyperchromic cells have a higher color than usual when viewed under a microscope, and normochromic cells are within the normal color range.
A patient becomes iron deficient and his red blood cells become hypochromic in one of four ways. You may not be getting enough iron from your diet, you may not be able to absorb dietary iron efficiently, you may be losing blood or you may be pregnant and your fetus is getting too much iron from its own stores. You may have bleeding during heavy periods or chronic gastrointestinal bleeding. Sudden blood loss is not a cause of hypochromic anemia because the red blood cells of patients who have had sudden blood loss are normal in color.
A patient with hypochromic anemia caused by iron deficiency may experience fatigue, pale skin, weakness, dizziness, shortness of breath, headache, brittle nails, irregular heartbeat, or may be more irritable than usual. He may have a poor appetite and have cravings for nonfood items like dirt or ice. You may also suffer from an unusual tingling sensation in your legs known as restless legs syndrome.
Thalassemia patients may also have hypochromic red blood cells. Thalassemia is an inherited disease that causes sufferers to produce an abnormal form of the pigment hemoglobin. Abnormal hemoglobin causes some red blood cells to be destroyed and causes hypochromia under the microscope.
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