Why do lupus patients become anaemic and what effect does this have?
Anaemia means that there are less red cells (and therefore less haemoglobin to carry oxygen) in the blood than there should be. Low red cell counts and the associated low level of haemoglobin in the blood can result from the effect of antibodies attacking the red cells and causing their destruction, a process called haemolytic anaemia. It is more common though to have anaemia due to poor production of red cells in the bone marrow. This usually occurs as a side-effect of general inflammation in the body due to lupus. Rarely is anaemia caused by drugs but this is possible. Whatever the underlying cause of anaemia, the end result is to cause the person to feel tired (fatigue) in proportion to the loss of red cells (haemoglobin), although there are other (often less well understood) causes of fatigue in lupus. In more severe cases, the person may become short of breath even in the absence of lung disease because there is not enough oxygen in the blood.
