Anemia of Chronic Disorders

Anemia of chronic disorders is a common anemia found in many clients with long-term illnesses. It is a normocytic, normochromic anemia and is usually mild. It is frequently overlooked, though, in the general workup of the underlying disease or misdiagnosed as other common forms of anemia. However, the treatments for these anemias are either ineffectual or harmful to the client with anemia of chronic disorders. Therefore, it is important to be aware of and to differentiate anemia of chronic disorders from other anemias.