When the human red blood cell count is consistently lower than (4.0-5.5) × 1012/L in adult men and (3.5-5.0) × 1012/L in adult women, it is called erythrocytopenia. The causes of low erythrocytes include the following: Physiological reduction: infants and children under 15 years of age, erythrocytes are generally 10%-20% lower than normal adults; some elderly people, mid and late pregnancy can have erythrocyte reduction.
Pathological decrease: seen in all kinds of anemia. According to the different etiology and pathogenesis of anemia, anemia can be divided into: 1. Red blood cell production reduction: Red blood cell production mainly depends on three factors: hematopoietic cells, hematopoietic regulation, and hematopoietic materials, and any one of these factors can lead to a reduction in red blood cell production. For example: aplastic anemia, megaloblastic anemia, iron deficiency anemia, etc.
2, increased red blood cell destruction: that is, hemolytic anemia, such as hereditary spherocytosis, thalassemia, etc.
3, excessive red blood cell loss: according to the cause of blood loss, it is divided into bleeding disorders (such as immune thrombocytopenia, hemophilia and severe liver disease, etc.) and non-bleeding disorders (such as trauma, tumor, tuberculosis and peptic ulcer, etc.).
In addition, some causes of hemodilution can also cause pseudo-erythrocyte hypotension when the total number of red blood cells remains the same due to increased blood volume and a relative decrease in red blood cells per unit of blood, but the ratio of various cells remains the same.
Therefore, all of the above causes may cause low red blood cells, but the specific cause needs to be combined with the patient’s medical history and related tests to confirm the diagnosis.