A New Way
to Treat Your
Anemia
By
Flo Lewis , R. N. & Unit Director and Kareem Syed Shah, B. COM. B. S. B. A.
Administrative Manager, Maple Avenue Kidney Center
Do you often feel tired, weak and lack overall energy?
If so, you are likely experiencing a chronic condition called
anemia. Dialysis patients suffer from severe anemia because
they lose iron at every hemodialysis treatment. This iron loss
is from the blood loss that occurs from needle sticks, blood
trapped in the blood lines and dialyzer and lab draws, among
other things. The bottom line is every time you receive a
dialysis treatment, you lose about 5-7 milligrams of iron.
Why is iron so important?
Iron plays an important role in making hemoglobin. It’s essential
to have enough iron in bone marrow to match the ESA dose
to make more healthy red blood cells. Iron+ESA = hemoglobin.
Hemoglobin helps carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of
your body and this is how we get energy. So if we are losing iron
from the dialysis treatment, it needs to be replaced real time,
otherwise we don’t get enough oxygen and we lose energy.
How can I get my lost iron replaced?
There are different ways you can get iron:
• Take extr