Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase

If you don't have enough G6PD, it's known as G6PD deficiency.

G6PD deficiency can cause the destruction of your red blood cells. When red blood cells are destroyed faster than your body can replace them, it's called hemolytic anemia. If you have hemolytic anemia, your cells don't get all the oxygen they need.

Most people with G6PD deficiency don't have symptoms until they are exposed to certain "triggers" which set off the destruction of red blood cells.

If your results show you have lower than normal amounts of G6PD, it means you have a G6PD deficiency. But your symptoms and risk of getting hemolytic anemia can vary, depending on your personal health history and exposure to triggers.

If you are a woman with slightly lower than normal amounts of G6PD, you may be a carrier of a G6PD deficiency. That means you have one defective G6PD gene and one normal G6PD gene. You might not have symptoms, since your normal G6PD genes usually make enough healthy red blood cells. But you have a risk of passing on the defective gene to your children. Male children are more likely to develop G6PD symptoms than female children.

If you are a man with a normal amount of G6PD, you are unlikely to have a deficiency. If you have anemia, it may be due to another cause. Your provider may want to repeat the G6PD test in a few weeks if you had the test during an episode of hemolytic anemia.