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Anemia may make heart failure worse

Category: Anemia and RBC disorders

Patients with anemia in addition to of their chronic heart failure have a worse likely outcome than if they do not have the blood disease, and the rate of hospitalization and likelihood of dying is also related to the severity of the anemia, according to research appearing in the journal Congestive Heart Failure.

Scientists from Sturt University in Wagga Wagga conducted a meta-analysis of 21 studies comprising 97,699 patients with chronic heart failure to assess the association between anemia and mortality risk.

They found that the risk of death was 1.66 times higher in patients with anemia when compared to those without anemia, and that anemia patients tended to have worse heart failure than those without.

"The results of this study may help to screen or manage anemia in congestive heart failure patients," the researchers wrote.

It wasn't clear from the study whether the anemia was causing the worsening heart failure or not, nor was it clear whether treating the anemia would reverse its effect on the heart.

Anemia has been declining among women and children in the U.S. according to the CDC.