What are the symptoms of anemia in infants?

Many parents supplement their children's nutrition after they are born, such as calcium and zinc supplements, but ignore the supplementation of iron. Many babies are found to be iron deficient when trace elements are tested at six months old. Infant anemia is a very dangerous event, and timely supplementation is required to meet the body's growth needs. However, many parents do not know the symptoms of infant anemia and cannot judge the abnormality of the disease. What are the symptoms of anemia in infants?

1. Pale skin and mucous membranes

This is the most prominent manifestation in children with anemia, and is more obvious on the face, lips, auricles, palms and nail beds. The conjunctiva and oral mucosa are even paler. This is because these areas are rich in capillaries and distributed superficially. When anemia occurs, the red blood cell and hemoglobin decrease, and the blood color becomes lighter, which can easily show up in these areas.

2. Symptoms of malnutrition

Children with long-term anemia have poor physical development, are short, do not like to play, and are easily tired. Due to malnutrition, their skin elasticity is poor, their nails are poorly developed, brittle, and have horizontal lines, and their hair is dry, yellow, and dull.

3. Circulatory and respiratory system manifestations

In anemia, the information about tissue hypoxia is "told" to the brain command center through the nervous system. The brain then orders the heart to pump blood faster (heart rate increases) and the lungs to breathe faster in an attempt to provide more oxygen. This phenomenon is called "compensation." However, compensation is limited. If anemia continues to worsen and compensatory function is disturbed, the heart will enlarge and in severe cases, heart failure will occur.

4. Neurological manifestations

When the brain tissue is deprived of oxygen, people will experience lack of energy, drowsiness, irritability, inattention, poor response to the surrounding environment, and intellectual impairment. Older children may also complain of headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, black spots in front of their eyes, etc. If megaloblastic anemia is caused by vitamin B12 deficiency, the neurological symptoms will be more obvious.

5. Digestive system symptoms

The cells of the digestive system also malfunction due to lack of oxygen, so children with anemia often experience loss of appetite, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

6. Hematopoietic organ manifestations

After birth, bone marrow becomes the body's only hematopoietic factory, medically known as the "hematopoietic organ." But before birth, in addition to bone marrow, the fetus's liver, spleen and lymph nodes are also the main hematopoietic organs, but they stop producing blood after birth. When anemia is severe, the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes can resume hematopoiesis to compensate for the lack of bone marrow hematopoiesis. The cells of these organs then begin to proliferate, and enlargement of the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes can be seen clinically. However, there is a disease called "aplastic anemia" in which the liver, spleen and lymph nodes do not enlarge. This is because this anemia is caused by lesions in the hematopoietic organs themselves, so they are unable to compensate.

The above article explains the symptoms of anemia in infants. Many aspects of anemia will be affected in infants. Long-term anemia will cause serious diseases. Parents should understand the abnormalities of the baby's body and compare them with the symptoms of anemia. If there are suspected symptoms of anemia, they can go to the hospital for examination and diagnosis so as not to delay the treatment of the disease. And after the baby starts to add complementary foods, he should automatically add foods containing various trace elements to replenish the corresponding nutrition in time.