Anemia in the Elderly
- Mon, 8/17/09 - 2:08pm
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Introduction
Anemia in older persons is common and is often incorrectly attributed to the ravages of normal aging. Hemoglobin levels should not vary due to age in elderly patients who are free of disease with bone marrow that is not stressed. Whether anemia is a marker or mediator of disease is not always clear, but even in centenarians it is usually a signal of pathology and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.1,2 A simple evaluation will identify the majority of causes and facilitate appropriate treatment.
Epidemiology
The World Health Organizati
