According to latest research, silent strokes that trigger long term learning deficits are more common in children with anemia, especially those suffering from sickle cell disease. Close to one third of the children affected by sickle cell disease suffer silent strokes, the study conducted by an assistant professor at the University of Texas further reveals. The study also indicated that anemic children who experience silent strokes on a frequent basis have brains that resemble the brain of an eight year old. The strokes are dubbed silent by the medical community because instead of causing weakness, they present you with certain neurological symptoms. However, the cause of concern here is: if your child is anemic and experiences these strokes often, then it can lead to serious cognitive impairments and poor academic performance.

Via: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110211153919.htm

In a new research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, pediatricians have discovered a connection between low vitamin D levels and anemia among children. To explore the link between vitamin D and hemoglobin, researchers examined blood samples collected from 9,400 children, aged two to eighteen years. It was found that vitamin D deficiency automatically led to low hemoglobin count and thereby actuated the risk for anemia. Anemia is normally found to affect one percent of the children classified as white for their skin tones. Black children, on the other hand, are much more vulnerable to anemia: the percentage of total population affected being nine percent, says the new research.

Via: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110501195148.htm

If you were being ignorant of iron supplements deliberately, then a new research gives you enough reasons to start taking the supplements seriously. According to a study that appeared in the Annals of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, a leading science journal, iron deficiency in pregnant women directly impacts childhood breathing. Cases of childhood asthma and wheezing are on the rise. This prompted a team led by Elizabeth Triche to explore the possible connections between anemia during pregnancy and childhood asthma. A sum total of 597 families participated in the study. Of them, twelve percent showed anemia problems during pregnancy. Twenty two percent of the children born of anemic mothers experienced recurrent wheeze all through their first year and seventeen percent suffered from acute asthma at the age of six years.

Via: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110310210412.htm

In a recent study, researchers have discovered how a new enzyme can work to protect patients against injury of organs and anemia deaths. The study was conducted by the St. Michaels Hospital. Identification of the new mechanism may pave way for bigger approaches and therapies to improve outcomes in people affected by anemia. Researchers found that the neuronal nitric oxide synthase in anemic patients increases the human body’s capacity to adapt and respond to low levels of oxygen, thereby adding to the body’s efficiency in passing oxygen to certain tissues. The study further noted that nitric oxide synthase levels in the brains of anemic mice increased considerably. On the contrary, mice without nitric oxide synthase enzyme were likely to die earlier.

Via: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111003151832.htm

Being anemic makes you three times more vulnerable to the possibilities of a stroke than non-anemic people, says a new research. The study was conducted by the School of Medicine at the University of Yale. Severe anemia may act as a potential predictor of death among stroke patients, especially in the first year after the occurrence of stroke, the study further reveals. Anemia refers to the condition where the patient suffers on account of shortage of healthy red blood cells. In the absence of requisite red blood cells to deliver oxygen throughout the system, people experience shortness of breath, fatigue or rapid heartbeat. Researchers actually reviewed the medical records of close to 3,700 men who had undergone treatment for the initial ischemic stroke.

Via: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120202094558.htm