Anemia In the Elderly

Abstract

Anemia is defined as a reduction in Red Blood Cell (RBC) mass, and is measured by estimating hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct). Anemia in the elderly as a laboratory finding incidentally detected in asymptomatic persons was not aggressively investigated and treated in the past. But the abnormality is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for a number of adverse outcomes in older adults, including hospitalization, morbidity and mortality. Elderly persons are defined as those older than age 65 years for purposes of studies on anemia. Recent advances in hematology have shown that the ethology of anemia in the elderly differs significantly from the etiology in younger adults. Today anemia in elderly persons is considered as a distinct entity.