During chemotherapy treatment hemoglobin is low what does this mean?

Answer 1

Hemoglobin is the protein inside the red blood cells that carries oxygen to the tissues. A low hemoglobin is called anemia.
There are many reasons to have a low hemoglobin:

• blood loss (chronic loss like from a woman having periods, or a sudden loss like bleeding from trauma like a car accident)
• a deficiency in the bone marrow so that proper hemoglobin cannot be manufactured (sometimes iron, B-vitamins, folic acid, many others)
• a problem with the bone marrow factory so that the proper ingredients are not made into hemoglobin/red blood cells.

During chemotherapy, of course, any of these things may apply, but it is very common for a person to develop anemia because the chemotherapy keeps the bone marrow from functioning at a normal rate.

Talk to your doctor before you start taking any iron or supplements to treat the anemia on your own. It is possible to take too much iron if iron deficiency is not the cause of your anemia, and some supplements may interfere with your chemotherapy.

There might be treatment for chemotherapy-related anemia with an injection of a chemical naturally occurring in the body that tells the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. Ask your doctor if this is right for you.