Hemolysis: Symptoms, Causes, And Treatment
Hemolysis is the process of destruction of red blood cells. In hemolysis, red blood cells or RBCs get destroyed before their lifecycle ends. Usually, the lifecycle of a red blood cell is 120 days, which means that each red blood cell lives for 120 days before the body naturally destroys it.
However, health issues, medication, or dietary changes can cause RBCs to break down early. Red blood cells are the primary component of blood, and the body destroys them in the spleen once their lifecycle (120 days) is complete. Moreover, the body also destroys damaged red blood cells before their lifecycle ends.
You might think this process can be dangerous, but it’s only dangerous when the hemolysis process doesn’t work properly. Usually, the body produces 2 million red blood cells every second, easily replacing the removed red blood cells. This blog discusses the causes, symptoms, and treatments of excessive hemolysis.
Causes of Hemolysis
Hemolysis has multiple causes. Sometimes these causes can be extrinsic, which means that an external source affects the destruction of red blood cells. However, in other cases, the causes are intrinsic, which means that the red blood cell triggers its own destruction.
Extrinsic Causes of Red Blood Cells Destruction
Extrinsic causes are usually medicines and chemicals, increasing the rate of red blood cell destruction. Here are the extrinsic causes of Hemolysis or red blood cell destruction.
● Blood infections
● Consuming or inhaling chemicals
● Excessive use of medicines such as penicillin, rifampin, acetaminophen, quinidine, and heparin
● Any condition that increases your body’s spleen activity
● Extensive and challenging physical exercise that pressurizes the spleen
● Exposure to venoms or poisons unconsciously
● Being around toxins like lead and copper
● Immune diseases like autoimmune hemolytic anemia
● Incompatible blood transfusions, where the receiver gets blood that isn’t compatible with their blood
● Mechanical damage from artificial heart machines like heart valves and heart-lung bypass machine
Intrinsic Causes of Red Blood Cells Destruction
Now that you know the extrinsic causes of excessive hemolysis, you can avoid them. But what about the intrinsic causes that are out of your control? In intrinsic cases, certain changes in red blood cells lead to their destruction. Common reasons for intrinsic destruction are a deformed cell structure, issues with a red blood cell’s metabolism, and problems with the hemoglobin structure. Here are some other intrinsic causes of hemolysis.
● Inherited cell conditions, including hereditary spherocytosis. If the patient’s parent’s red blood cell has hereditary spherocytosis, this condition can also arise in the child’s red blood cell.
● Cell membrane conditions like paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare disease where the immune system starts breaking down the red blood cells in the body.
● Conditions like glucose deficiency affect red blood cells’ metabolism
● Diseases where the red blood cells have abnormal hemoglobin structure, including thalassemia and sickle cell disease
● Abnormalities in the membrane of the red blood cell, resulting in health issues like elliptocytosis.
Symptoms of Hemolysis
As discussed above, excessive hemolysis can lead to red blood cell abnormalities like hemolytic anemia. This type of anemia is the same as other anemia types, and the only difference is that it happens due to an increase in the hemolysis rate.
This excessive hemolysis condition can develop shortly over time. However, in some cases, it also develops suddenly, with either mild or severe symptoms. Here are the symptoms of excessive hemolysis.
● Pale skin
● Continuous fatigue
● Excessive dizziness
● Heart disorders
● Mild or severe jaundice
● Different types of headaches
● Enlarged spleen and liver
However, all of these symptoms are of moderate hemolytic anemia. If you’ve got severe hemolytic anemia, you might experience symptoms like:.
● High fever
● Sudden chills
● Pain in the back and abdominal region
● Enlarged heart
● Severe heart issues, leading to heart strokes or heart failure
● Irregular heartbeat or rhythm
How to Diagnose Excessive Hemolysis
If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, we recommend visiting a doctor as soon as possible. A doctor will carry out certain tests to determine if you have excessive hemolysis or hemolytic anemia. These doctors will conduct a physical examination, alongside taking a person’s medical history and considering their symptoms. If they think you have hemolytic anemia, they will recommend you to get some tests. Here are the tests that can help a doctor decide if your red blood cells are being destroyed earlier than they should.
● A complete blood count test will tell your doctors the exact number of red blood cells in your body. Moreover, it also determines the size of these red blood cells.
● A peripheral blood smear will show the size and shape of your red blood cells, alongside determining any abnormalities that you might have.
● A reticulocyte count determines if your body has enough bone marrow to replace premature red blood cell destruction.
● A lactic dehydrogenase determines if your red blood cells are undergoing fast Hemolysis.
Treatment of Hemolysis
Based on your medical test results, your doctor will recommend a suitable treatment. However, this treatment will also depend on the cause of excessive hemolysis. In addition, doctors also consider a person’s age, the severity of hemolysis, and a person’s overall health when recommending treatment.
Here are some common treatments for excessive hemolysis or hemolytic anemia.
● The most common treatment is blood transfusions, as they can easily and quickly replace the destroyed red blood cells in a person’s body.
● Excessive hemolysis consumes folate in the body, so some doctors recommend using folic acid supplements.
● A doctor can also recommend corticosteroid medication to reduce the activity of the immune system. With reduced immune activity, the body will stop destroying its red blood cells.
● In some severe cases of the spleen being permanently affected, the doctors might suggest removing the spleen.
Do you think you might have any symptoms of hemolytic anemia? The best way to determine that is by getting a blood test through the help of a mobile blood testing service like Phlebotomy On Wheels.
Their professional phlebotomists in VA will travel to your location to provide home blood draw services and perform the necessary tests. Get in touch with them or book an appointment to ensure you don’t have hemolytic anemia.
About the Author
The author is an expert phlebotomist affiliated with Phlebotomy On Wheels. She is known for discussing blood diseases and abnormalities in her written work, guiding many people.
