Home Conditions What are blood disorders?

What are blood disorders?

There are many different types of blood disorders which affect Australian men and women.

Understanding blood disorders

There are many different types of blood disorders. A blood disorder is similar to a blood cancer, but is defined as non-malignant (meaning it is not cancerous).

A general practitioner can help to diagnose a blood disorder and will likely refer you to a haematologist for treatment and management of your condition. A haematologist is a specialist doctor who treats blood-related disorders and disease.

When something is wrong with your blood it can affect your overall health, and if left untreated symptoms commonly impact day-to-day life.

Common types of blood disorders

At Icon, we diagnose and treat the causes and symptoms of a wide-range of blood disorders including:

Anaemia – Anaemia is a lack of red blood cells in the blood which result in reduced oxygen to the cells
Iron deficiency – Iron deficiency is a type of anaemia which causes tiredness, shortness of breath and dizziness
Haemochromatosis – Haemochromatosis is an inherited genetic condition which occurs when the body absorbs and improperly stores too much iron from the diet
Myelodysplasia – Myelodysplasia refers to a group of blood disorders that cause problems in the blood cells produced in the bone marrow