15 hours ago
Maybe It's Not Just Aging. Maybe It's Anemia.
Gary Sergott felt weary all the time. 'I'd get tired, short of breath, a sort of malaise,' he said. He was cold even on warm days and looked pale with dark circles under his eyes.
His malady was not mysterious. As a retired nurse-anesthetist, Mr. Sergott knew he had anemia, a deficiency of red blood cells. In his case, it was the consequence of a hereditary condition that caused almost daily nosebleeds and depleted his hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen throughout the body.
But in consulting doctors about his fatigue, he found that many didn't know how to help. They advised Mr. Sergott, who lives in Westminster, Md., to take iron tablets, usually the first-line treatment for anemia.
But like many older people, he found a daily regimen of four to six tablets hard to tolerate. Some patients taking iron complain of severe constipation or stomach cramps. Mr. Sergott felt 'nauseated all the time.' And iron tablets don't always work.
After almost 15 years, he found a solution. Dr. Michael Auerbach, a hematologist and an oncologist who is the co-director of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Baltimore, suggested that Mr. Sergott receive iron intravenously instead of orally.
Now Mr. Sergott, 78, gets an hourlong infusion when his hemoglobin levels and other markers show that he needs one, usually three times a year. 'It's like filling the gas tank,' he said. His symptoms recede, and 'I feel great.'
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