I think my daughter may be anemic. Can you give me the symptoms of anemia? My daughter is tired all the time. I give her a multivitamin; what else should be done to treat anemia?

Anemia means that the red blood cell count is lower than it should be. The percentage of red blood cells in the blood varies by age and gender. Since you didn't provide the age of your daughter, it is hard for me to give you the normal red blood cell percentage for her age. Anemia can cause fatigue, but it is not the main reason for fatigue. Thus, I would not assume that she is anemic just because she experiences fatigue.

In addition, individuals can be anemic even if they take vitamins, so your daughter's vitamin intake doesn't rule anemia in or out. Symptoms of anemia vary by the degree of severity of the anemia. In other words, those who are severely anemic have marked symptoms, while those who are mildly anemic may have no symptoms at all.

The best (and easiest) way to determine if she has anemia is a simple blood test. That test will reveal the percentage of red blood cells in her blood. If she is anemic, her doctor can discuss the next step depending on the degree of her anemia. If she is not anemic, her doctor can investigate other reasons for her fatigue.

Patricia D. Fosarelli, M.D., D. Min., is part-time assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. In addition to her medical degree, she holds a doctorate of ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary. Her doctoral thesis was on the spiritual development of children. With some 40 published articles, she has co-authored the books "Pediatrics" (Lippincott) and "Pediatric Pearls" with Beryl Rosenstein. In addition to her faculty position at Johns Hopkins, she also serves on the faculty of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology. Her research interests have included child care, latch-key children, health care utilization and telephone medicine. Currently, her interests include the spiritual care of children with chronic and life-threatening conditions.

Last Updated: 3/25/2004
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