Anemia

(an-e'-me-ah). Deficiency of blood, or deficiency of the relative number of its red corpuscles, the latter being the most generally understood meaning and use of the term. It may be general or local. Ischemia is a form of local anemia, and is the result of mechanical interference with the circulation of the affected part, either from vaso-motor spasm, thrombosis, embolism, or the action of styptics. The cause of general anemia is often obscure, or it may be due either to an insufficient food-supply and exce ive drain or blood-waste, or from repeated hemorrhages or exhausting discharges. The action of certain poisons, as mercury and lead, will also produce a form of anemia. Prolonged anemia will give rise to fatty degeneration of the organs and ti ues. Idiopathic, pernicious, e ential, progre ive, malignant, etc., are terms denoting a type resisting all treatment and steadily progre ing to a fatal termination. A., Idiopathic, advances to a fatal i ue, and is a ociated with febrile symptoms; its causation is not evident; it is called also Primary Anemia. A., Local. See Hyperemia , Ischemia, and Anemia. A. lymphatic a. Synonym of Hodgkin's Disease. See Lymph adenoma . A., Primary. See A. Idiopathic. A., Secondary, or Symptomatic, follows some ascertainable lesion or injury, or from some other disease. A., Symptomatic. See A., Secondary.