5. Angiodysplasia
This condition causes fragile and unusual blood vessels to break in the gut. This can then cause gastrointestinal bleeding that has seemingly no other cause. While this isn’t usually a problem, it can, of course, be alarming and if enough blood is lost, then it might also lead to anemia – the loss of red blood cells. Anemia results in tiredness, pale looking skin, and shortness of breath.
Red blood cells are what carry oxygen and nutrients around the body to provide our muscles and organs with the energy they need to keep operating – so it is no surprise that when these are low, we feel sluggish. Other causes of anemia include low iron (seeing as the red blood cells are made from iron) and low B12. In these cases, supplementing may help.
Angiodysplasia tends to affect the cecum or ascending colon most often, but the lesions can also affect other areas too. The condition can be managed to reduce the problem, however it is not usually curable – only around 20% of cases can be fixed completely.