See anemia.

A deficiency of red blood cells; SYN. anaemia.
Lack of red blood cells; loss of vitality; pallidity. pernicious or primary anemia, disease resulting in rapid destruction of red corpuscles.
Condition caused by a shortage of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells. The main symptoms are fatigue, pallor, breathlessness, palpitations, and poor resistance to infection. Treatment depends on the cause.
Anemia arises either from abnormal loss or defective production of hemoglobin. Excessive loss occurs, for instance, with chronic slow bleeding or with accelerated destruction (hemolysis) of red blood cells. Defective production may be due to iron deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency (pernicious anemia), certain blood diseases (sickle-cell disease and thalassemia), chronic infection, kidney disease, or certain kinds of poisoning. Untreated anemia taxes the heart and may prove fatal.
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