Which type of anaemia?

[MissCommando]

Husband's gran received a phone call on Sat from the docs asking her to make an urgent appt to get blood test results. She's been told she has anaemia and that her bone marrow is no longer producing enough blood cells to combat it. She already suffers from an auto-immune disease, is only 5 stone 8 (if that) and doesn't really remember all that she was told by the doctor. They told her no medication will help and it's something she'll have to live with.
Does this sound like something more than normal anaemia?

[bednobs]

could be Aplastic anaemia

[MissCommando]

Thanks bednobs. Oh my gosh, just read up about it - it sounds dreadful (death within 6 months)! She did have a phase where she was getting terrible nose bleeds last year. Really hope it's not this and wondering why the doctor didn't emphasize how serious it is, unless he didn't want to scare her.

[bednobs]

perhaps it isn't!
it just occurred to me

[LazyGun]

Anaemia is fundamentally a condition of reduced numbers of circulating red cells, leading to inadequate O2 transport around the body. There are,essentially, 3 ways by which this can happen.
1. Blood Loss
2.Increased red cell destruction ( example: beta thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia)
3. Decreased production of red cells. ( example, aplastic anaemia, leukaemia, etc)

The commentary from the Doctor does indeed sound pretty discouraging, but it would be worth getting some clarity and confirmation, especially if your GMiL may have forgotten or misremembered. The treatment options for aplastic anaemia are limited, but not absent - ,much will depend on the cause and severity of the aplasia, if indeed thats your GMiL has.

[Sqad]

I agree with Lazygun.

By "normal anaemia" you mean Iron deficiency anaemia which can be treated with iron tablets.........in which case, no it doesn't.

However an accurate diagnosis cannot be made on the information that you have given.

[Sqad]

sorry...I misread your last sentence..so I mean "yes it does sound like more than normal anaemia"

[slaney]

Hi MissCommando - a bit more information needed - as Sqad and Lazygun have said , it doesn't sound straightforward.
Is her bone marrow no longer producing just red cells, or white cells and platelets as well? If the latter,it could be something in category 3 of Lazygun's table above.
How anaemic is she? Sometimes the elderly can live with a subnormal haemoglobin level without too much difficulty.
There may not be any specific treatment for whatever she has, but there are usually supportive measures such as transfusion which may help.
Someone with an autoimmune tendency is more likely to get an autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA), but there are treatments for this, so perhaps unlikely.

Is it possible for a family member to go to the GP with your husband's grandmother to get the answer to these questions, and find out what the diagnosis is?

[MissCommando]

Thank you all for your responses. There is a history of leukemia in the family. Both her brother and sister died from it several years ago.

My husband is going to offer to go with her to the docs next week to try and find out more, or at least get a copy of the results. The GP did apparently say that not even a bone marrow transplant or blood transfusion would help, and it was just her body's way of breaking down.

As soon as I have more information I will update here.

Thanks again...