Thursday, December 27, 2007

An Old Age Story




An old lady, bent at the waist, almost double, using a stick to support her feeble frame, one amongst the many you would pass by on the dusty village raods without a second glance.
She came to us saying that she was unwell and had very little energy. One look at her and Dr Kamakshi diagnosed Anaemia. Sure enough, her Haemoglobin was 3 gm% (normal 12 gm%). No wonder she was tired and fatigued.
We helped her children understand the need for proper nutrition, a roasted mixture of ragi, green gram dhal, rice and chickpeas was suggested as a gruel, with the addition of milk and jaggery. Of course B Complex and Iron tablets were added. Luckily for her, she has children to look after her.
Let us hope that her remaining years on this earth will be qualitatively better.

1 comment:

cme_9 said...

Hi, Did you consider occult gastrointestinal blood loss to account for such sever iron deficiency anemia in an elderly woman who doesnt have menstrual periods to explain the iron deficiency? In that case just iron supplements may not be enough ?