RED FLAG FRIDAY: Don't Blow Off Anemia

In a population-based study, 9 percent of adults older than 65 years with iron deficiency anemia had gastrointestinal cancer. Yikes! I know, nine percent doesn't sound like a lot. But think about how many geriatric patients we see each year with anemia! In fact, older adults with anemia had gastrointestinal cancer 31 times as often as adults without anemia. (REFERENCE: Ioannou GN. Am J Med 2002;113:276-80).

Algorithm for Work-up of Pediatric Anemia

Here is a simple algorithm for the workup of pediatric anemia. Hope it helps. This handout is from a lecture that I recently presented at the 2012 AAFP Scientific Assembly. (NOTE: Click on the "simple algorithm" link above to download the algorithm. The image below is low resolution).