Anemia in the elderly

Physicians disagree in defining the normal range for hemoglobin in the elderly patient. In order to understand this controversy and make rational decisions in patient management, it is important to understand the physiological factors that may give rise to variation from normal. Although the spectrum of disease seen in geriatrics may differ from that seen in children and young adults, the pathophysiology of anemia does not change and should be thought of in terms of microcytic, macrocytic, or normocytic. The variation from normal in the elderly is usually small and does not allow a physician to ascribe the difference to age alone.