WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- Anemia may raise the risk of death in older individuals, a new study finds.
The University of Vermont College of Medicine study concluded that older adults with the lowest and highest hemoglobin concentrations are at increased risk of death. Hemoglobin is the component of red blood cells that carries oxygen.
Increasing evidence suggests that anemia is common among elderly Americans, the researchers said.
Of the nearly 5,800 elderly Americans in the study, 498 (8.5 percent) were anemic based on World Health Organization criteria for anemia -- hemoglobin concentrations of less than 12 g/dL (grams per one-tenth liter) for women and less than 13 g/dL for men. The rate of anemia was 7 percent among whites and 17.6 percent among blacks.
After about 11 years of follow-up, the study found that lower hemoglobin concentrations were associated with increased risk of death, independent of many other factors.
Future research should answer the question of "whether treatment of low hemoglobin in the general population reduces mortality," the study authors wrote in the Oct. 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about anemia.
