If you scored high in the ‘Impaired Oxygen Delivery’ section of the Health Score Quiz, please read this article as it contains some useful information and resources to help you.
The questions or statements posed in the health score questionnaire relate to symptoms associated with issues with the impairment of oxygen being delivered effectively to our cells to make energy. In severe cases this is diagnosed as anaemia.
If our cells are unable to effectively make energy from the food that we eat because of a lack of oxygen being present, this can lead to a number of symptoms, in particular energy issues, shortness of breath, feeling weak, poor cognitive function etc.
Below you will find a link to an extensive article covering:
- Symptoms of anaemia/impaired oxygen delivery
- Causes of anaemia/impaired oxygen delivery
- Why it causes low energy levels
- Appropriate blood testing for anaemia
- Anaemia patterns of imbalance
- Optimal reference ranges so we can establish if there is actual anaemia or potential for impaired oxygen delivery leading to symptoms without clinical anaemia present
- Nutrients and foods that may help to support oxygen delivery and prevent anaemia
Read the article – How to improve your energy: The role of anaemia and what you can do about it
The information provided here and in the above article is not a substitute for medical advice or diagnosis. These symptoms can overlap with other dysfunctions and it is important that other contributing factors to anaemia should be ruled out.
We should always be asking why this imbalance has occurred. Could there be an underlying condition that requires treatment? Is there a dietary imbalance resulting in deficiency / insufficiency? Are lifestyle factors impeding digestion and absorption? Is one’s menstrual cycle contributing to deficiency of nutrients?
For the above reason, simply correcting a deficiency or insufficiency to improve oxygen delivery or reverse anaemia is one thing, to understand the reason that it developed and to address that is another. Impaired oxygen delivery and anaemia is simply a symptom in and of itself, one that we must try and find the real reason it has developed in the first place. This is why we always recommend a holistic approach looking for root causes.
On a number of occasions out of balance blood work, in particular the haematology aspect of their blood work has helped to lead on to further investigation and the diagnosis of digestive imbalances such as colon cancer, Crohn’s, colitis etc.
These are not the common reasons for impaired oxygen delivery or full-blown anaemia, but what this demonstrates is that merely treating one imbalance without asking why it has occurred in the first place can result in a far worse outcome in the long run.
As nutrition and functional medicine practitioners we can be equally guilty of using a symptomatic lead approach, just using natural substances instead of pharmaceutical medications. Just because something is being treated with natural substances doesn’t make that approach any better than conventional approaches.
The trick is to understand the true underlying cause and work towards that. Of course some symptom treatment may be crucial in the overall treatment process, but it should not be the only intervention.
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I hope you have found this content useful. If you feel that you could benefit from additional support in this area, don’t hesitate to get in touch using the enquiry form below.
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