What Is Anaemia? Symptoms Women in Barasat Shouldn't Ignore

Anaemia means your blood is not carrying enough oxygen. That is the short version. The longer version is that you have fewer healthy red blood cells than your body needs, or your red cells do not have enough haemoglobin — the protein that picks up oxygen in your lungs and drops it off everywhere else.

When that supply runs low, everything works a little harder for a little less. Hence the tiredness. Hence the breathlessness. Your heart speeds up to compensate, which is why some people first notice anaemia as a fluttering or pounding chest.

The warning signs

Here is what to actually watch for:

• Tiredness that does not lift with rest
• Getting out of breath on stairs or short walks
• Skin, lips, or the inside of the lower eyelid looking pale
• Brittle, spoon-shaped nails
• Feeling cold, especially in the hands and feet
• Headaches or dizziness
• Trouble concentrating
• A craving to chew ice or non-food things like clay (this one is specific to iron deficiency and worth mentioning to a doctor)

One sign on its own means little. Several together, lasting weeks, is worth a test.

Why women are more at risk

Women lose iron through menstruation every month, and the body has to keep replacing it. Pregnancy raises the demand sharply, because the growing baby draws on the mother's iron stores. Add a diet low in iron-rich foods — which is common where meat, eggs, and certain vegetables are expensive or scarce — and stores run down faster than they fill.

This is why anaemia clusters in exactly the group it does: younger women, pregnant women, women with limited diets. The NFHS-5 survey found anaemia concentrated in women under 25, women with low body weight, and women in rural and lower-income households across West Bengal.

What causes it

Iron deficiency is the most common cause by far, but not the only one. Anaemia can also come from low vitamin B12 or folate, from chronic illness, from blood loss, and from inherited conditions like thalassaemia, which is present in parts of West Bengal. That is why a screening result is a starting point, not the end of the story. A low reading tells you to look further, not exactly what to do.

When to get tested

If you are pregnant, you should have your haemoglobin checked as part of antenatal care — and more than once. If you are an adolescent girl, a woman of reproductive age with any of the symptoms above, or anyone who simply has not had it checked in a long time, a haemoglobin test is a small, sensible thing to do.

The test itself is quick. The harder part has always been getting to it. That is the part we are working on.

FAQ

What haemoglobin level counts as anaemia? The WHO defines anaemia in non-pregnant women as a haemoglobin below 12 g/dL, and below 11 g/dL in pregnancy. Your doctor interprets the number alongside your symptoms.

Is anaemia serious? It can be. Mild anaemia is easily treated, but untreated anaemia raises risks in pregnancy, worsens heart conditions, and affects growth and learning in young people.

Do I need to fast for a haemoglobin test? No. A basic haemoglobin or complete blood count does not require fasting.