Suggest Treatment For Low Hemoglobin Levels

Posted on Thu, 15 Jan 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 Answered on

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : My husband was diagnosed with low hemoglobin. 8 wbc normal. all other blood work normal..78 years old . no meds. history of base of tongue squamous cell carcinoma 6 years out with no reoccurrenceXXXXXX. Imrt radiation with 2 rounds of chemo (cystplatin sp?) Why low hemoglobin. Any ideas?

Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Considerations

Detailed Answer:
hello and thank you for sending the question.

Something that needs to be checked is whether or not he is having some type of gastrointestinal or urinary tract bleeding. If he has not had a colonoscopy or upper endoscopy with in the last few years this will be the first step.

Other possibilities include a dysfunction of the bone marrow. If endoscopy is normal then examination of the bone marrow might be considered.

The most common cause of low hemoglobin is bleeding. This will need to be assessed by his doctor. If no obvious source of bleeding is found in the doctors might check additional studies to look at vitamin levels and iron levels.

Thanks again for sending your question.

Dr. Galamaga

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar