When you feel weak and tired, and experience shortness of breath, it could be a classic symptom of anemia. This condition occurs when the red blood cells, through which oxygen is supplied to our entire body, are unable to produce ample amounts of oxygen. This can also happen when the red blood cells are not productive and are not working efficiently. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia, but there are other types that are rare and affect a small number of people.

Some of these rare types of anemia are as follows:

1. Hypoplastic anemia

This type of anemia could be due to an inherited gene from your parents or it could be acquired. Acquired hypoplastic anemia is more commonly experienced. In this condition, the stem cells in the bone marrow are damaged and are not able to make enough new blood cells. Stem cells produce blood cells in the bone marrow.

2. Sideroblastic anemia

In this group of blood disorders, the body is unable to use the iron to produce hemoglobin, which is the protein that carries oxygen to the blood. The build-up of iron causes the formation of abnormal red blood cells known as sideroblast. There are two types of sideroblastic anemia. Acquired sideroblastic anemia is usually caused by exposure to drugs or certain chemicals. Hereditary sideroblastic anemia occurs when normal hemoglobin production is destroyed by a gene mutation. It is this gene that produces “heme,” the part of hemoglobin that carries oxygen.

3. Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)

MDS is a type of cancer and is usually caused when the bone marrow is damaged and cannot produce enough healthy blood cells. Very few people are born with a gene that causes MDS. They are passed down from one or both parents. If you have the inherited syndrome, you could be more likely to develop MDS.

4. Autoimmune Hemolytic anemia

People who have autoimmune diseases like lupus face a higher risk of this type of anemia. This condition occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the red blood cells faster than it can produce new ones.

5. Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia (CDA)

There are three types of CDA — Types 1, 2, and 3. Type 2 is the most common and Type 3 is the rarest. CDA is a group of inherited anemia that reduces the number of healthy red blood cells in the body. All CDA’s are inherited and are passed down through families.

6. Diamond-Blackfan anemia

This condition is said to be caused by changes in your genes. In this condition, the bone marrow does not make enough red blood cells.

7. Megaloblastic anemia

When the bone marrow produces abnormally structured red blood cells, which could be too large or too young, then this type of anemia occurs. Such blood cells are not mature or healthy, and are therefore unable to carry oxygen throughout the body very well. Megaloblastic anemia is caused by too little Vitamin B-12 (Cobalamin) or Vitamin B-9 (Folate), which are essential for the body to make red blood cells.

8. Fanconi anemia

This is a hereditary condition that makes the blood marrow produce very few blood cells.