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Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients

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Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...

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Updated: Jun 30, 2026

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

Published on: January 19, 2024

Nutritional anemias and the elderly.

Ralph Carmel¹

¹Departments of Medicine, New York Methodist Hospital, 506 Sixth Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, USA. rac9001@nyp.org

Seminars in Hematology

|September 24, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Nutritional anemias, like iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), are treatable but require personalized assessment. Understanding causes beyond diet, such as malabsorption or blood loss, is key for effective management.

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Last Updated: Jun 30, 2026

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

A Point-of-Care Method with Integrated Decision Support Tool to Estimate Anemia at Population Level

Published on: January 19, 2024

Area of Science:

Hematology
Nutritional Science
Geriatrics

Background:

Nutritional anemias are clinically significant due to their reversibility and diverse etiologies.
Causes often extend beyond poor diet, necessitating thorough investigation.
Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), cobalamin-deficiency anemia, folate-deficiency anemia, and copper-deficiency anemia are key types.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the causes, diagnostic approaches, and prevalence of nutritional anemias.
To differentiate nutritional anemias from other common anemias in the elderly.
To highlight the role of mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in diagnosis.

Main Methods:

Literature review of nutritional anemias and related deficiencies.
Analysis of etiological factors including blood loss, malabsorption, and dietary intake.
Examination of diagnostic utility of MCV and biochemical markers.

Main Results:

IDA commonly results from chronic blood loss or malabsorption.
Cobalamin deficiency is linked to intrinsic factor (IF) absorption failure, prevalent in the elderly.
Folate deficiency is less common due to food fortification; copper deficiency is increasingly recognized.
Nutritional anemias often present with abnormal MCV, unlike normocytic anemias common in the elderly.

Conclusions:

Individualized assessment is crucial for managing nutritional anemias.
MCV is a vital tool for differentiating nutritional anemias from other types.
While folate deficiency has decreased, other nutritional anemias require ongoing attention, especially in at-risk populations.