Health officials were in for a shock when a random haemoglobin level check showed just how anaemic women were in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Fifty-five of the 215 Class II and III women employees had haemoglobin levels under 10 gm while seven women had very low haemoglobin levels. The normal range of haemoglobin for a man is 13.5 to 17.5 gm and for a woman is 11.5 to 15.5 gm. "Anything less than these levels is called anaemia,' says Dr Anjali Sabne, chief of the city family welfare bureau. The PMC laboratory at Gadikhana conducted the test on Thursday. Tests were conducted on Class II and III women employees working at the main administrative building of the PMC. As part of its anti anaemia drive, PMC chief medical officer Dr Pramod Dhaigude has instructed doctors at its 15 maternity homes and 25 dispensaries to conduct free-of-cost haemoglobin check-up of women who visit them for treatment. Since a month now, 120 medical officers, 335 nurses, 75 pharmacists, 150 ayahs and nearly 100 Class IV women employees have been tested for their haemoglobin levels. Even as reports are awaited, Sabne says that preliminary findings show that at least 40 per cent of these women have low haemoglobin levels. "Once we detect these women as anaemic, treatment is provided in the form of folic tablets and advice is given on improving their diet,' Sabne said. Haemoglobin is the coloured pigment inside red blood cells that carries oxygen round the body. If the haemoglobin level falls, the body is good at compensating for the drop in red cells. The heart will beat faster and more forcefully and the lungs increase the amount of air they move each minute to increase the amount of oxygen they deliver to the blood. The body also gets better at taking up oxygen into the red cells and releasing it where it is needed. "This is why we can often cope with slightly lower than normal haemoglobin levels, especially, if they develop gradually. But when the level drops too low for us, we start to feel tired, breathless and may start to run into problems with too little oxygen getting to important organs like the heart and brain. This can cause palpitations, angina (chest pains), headache or dizzy spells,' says Sabne.