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What Do Palpitations And Low Hemoglobin Levels Indicate?
Question: A female friend of mine-had irregular heart rhythm..eventually needed to go to the ER and received 3 pints of blood..tested afterwards hemoglobin still low..her father died at an early age from a blood disease she doesn't know what..I've also noticed small blood dots on her torso. She's trying to get a recommendation to see a hematologist. Any info would help her.
Brief Answer:
Detailed investigation of blood and heart should be done.
Detailed Answer:
Again the sensation you are having are called palpitations.
.A heart palpitation is the sensation that your heart has skipped a beat or added an extra beat. It may feel like your heart is racing, pounding, or fluttering,Anaemia can be a cause of palpitation but as her age is 55 cardiac cause should also be ruled out.
I would like to suggest to go for 24 hour holter monitoring-A small device would be attached to your body for 24hours.It will keep a record of your heart beat (both rate and rhythm) for a perioid of 24 hours.You can also note the time during which you feel palpitations and the rythm at that time could be seen on computer monitor during interpretation of the test.It is the basic and most important test for you.
Now as per your query regarding low haemoglobin,Your friend is having severe anaemia.Extensive blood testing should be done to rule out the cause of anaemia in her case.
Few tests advice are
Complete blood count
Serum ferritin
Transferrin saturation
Total iron binding capacity
Vitamin B12 levels
Thalessemia profile
Peripheral blood smear
Stool for occult blood
APTT, PT/INR(as blood dots are seen in torso) this test wil help us see if blood is too thin.
they are the basic tests to find out the cause of severe anaemia.
However if all these tests are normal Upper g.i endoscopy and laproscopy can be done to find any source of bleeding.
Severe anemia is also seen in leukemias(blood cancer).Genetic testing can be done if needed.
However initially basic tests should be done if every thing comes out to be normal ,Proceed for other investigations.
As father has a history of blood disease is always safe to go for Genetic mapping.
Please attach a copy of her ECG.
Waiting
Thanks
Detailed investigation of blood and heart should be done.
Detailed Answer:
Again the sensation you are having are called palpitations.
.A heart palpitation is the sensation that your heart has skipped a beat or added an extra beat. It may feel like your heart is racing, pounding, or fluttering,Anaemia can be a cause of palpitation but as her age is 55 cardiac cause should also be ruled out.
I would like to suggest to go for 24 hour holter monitoring-A small device would be attached to your body for 24hours.It will keep a record of your heart beat (both rate and rhythm) for a perioid of 24 hours.You can also note the time during which you feel palpitations and the rythm at that time could be seen on computer monitor during interpretation of the test.It is the basic and most important test for you.
Now as per your query regarding low haemoglobin,Your friend is having severe anaemia.Extensive blood testing should be done to rule out the cause of anaemia in her case.
Few tests advice are
Complete blood count
Serum ferritin
Transferrin saturation
Total iron binding capacity
Vitamin B12 levels
Thalessemia profile
Peripheral blood smear
Stool for occult blood
APTT, PT/INR(as blood dots are seen in torso) this test wil help us see if blood is too thin.
they are the basic tests to find out the cause of severe anaemia.
However if all these tests are normal Upper g.i endoscopy and laproscopy can be done to find any source of bleeding.
Severe anemia is also seen in leukemias(blood cancer).Genetic testing can be done if needed.
However initially basic tests should be done if every thing comes out to be normal ,Proceed for other investigations.
As father has a history of blood disease is always safe to go for Genetic mapping.
Please attach a copy of her ECG.
Waiting
Thanks
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Kampana
Answered by
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