The definition of anemia: what is the lower limit of normal of the blood hemoglobin concentration?

The diagnosis of anemia is an important aspect of the practice of hematology. The first step is to decide whether the patient is, in fact, anemic. Unless earlier blood counts are available, and they often are not, the physician must make his or her decision on the basis of the population distributio...

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Published inBlood Vol. 107; no. 5; pp. 1747 - 1750
Main Authors Beutler, Ernest, Waalen, Jill
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC Elsevier Inc 01.03.2006
The Americain Society of Hematology
2006 by The American Society of Hematology
Subjects
Anemia - blood
Anemia - diagnosis
Anemias. Hemoglobinopathies
Biological and medical sciences
Blood Cell Count
Diseases of red blood cells
Female
Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases
Hemoglobins - analysis
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Human
Reference value
Ethnic origin
Anemia
Sex
Definition
Hemoglobin
Hemopathy
Epidemiology
Age
Blood
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Summary:The diagnosis of anemia is an important aspect of the practice of hematology. The first step is to decide whether the patient is, in fact, anemic. Unless earlier blood counts are available, and they often are not, the physician must make his or her decision on the basis of the population distribution of hemoglobin values. How likely is it that the patient's hemoglobin value lies below the normal distribution; that is, “the lower limit”?
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Prepublished online as Blood First Edition Paper, September 27, 2005; DOI 10.1182/blood-2005-07-3046.
Supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant DK53505-08) and the Stein Endowment Fund.
Reprints: Ernest Beutler, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, 10550 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037; e-mail: beutler@scripps.edu.
ISSN:0006-4971
1528-0020
DOI:10.1182/blood-2005-07-3046