Does alcohol cause anemia?
Alcohol can cause anemia by a variety of mechanisms:
Folate deficiency: alcohol blocks the action of this vitamin
which is used in the creation of new red blood cells and white
blood cells.
GI blood loss: chronic alcoholism causes cirrhosis which slows
traffic through the portal vein, backing up blood in the GI tract,
leading to varices in the esophagus, hemorrhoids, and intestinal
angioectasias all of which can bleed and cause anemia.
Splenic Sequestation: when the traffic through the portal vein
slows, blood shunts through the spleen which absorbs a lot of it
(and breaks it down)
Anemia of chronic disease: alcoholics have a tendency to get
sick and stay sick and those prolonged illnesses can cause anemia.
The effects of hereditary hemochromatosis can be accelerated by
alcohol.