Blood Disorders Essay

Blood Disorders
By:Khay Fernandez
HCA 240
6/2/2013

According to the Mayo clinic, 7-8% of human body weight is from blood. This essential fluid carries out the critical functions of transporting oxygen and nutrients to our cells and getting rid of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and other waste products. Blood is a highly specialized tissue composed of more than 4,000 different kinds of components. Three of the four most important ones are red cells, platelets, and plasma. If an individual suffered from sickle cell, anemia, or thrombocytopenia, is certain that one of the three components has been affected somehow. To understand better how these conditions are caused by the lack of something in one of the three components, we first have to understand how these components make our bodies function. Red blood cells are one of these components. They deliver oxygen to the body tissues via the blood. Red blood cells perform the most important blood duty. A single drop of blood contains millions of red blood cells which are constantly traveling through your body delivering oxygen and removing waste. If they weren't, your body would slowly die. Erythrocytes, also known as red blood cells (RBCs), function to transport oxygen in the blood. Erythrocytes contain tremendous amounts of hemoglobin, the protein that binds oxygen.
Platelets are another important component. Platelets are only about 20% of the diameter of red blood cells, the most numerous cell of the blood. The normal platelet count is 150,000-350,000 per microliter of blood, but since platelets are so small, they make up just a tiny fraction of the blood volume. The principal function of platelets is to prevent bleeding.
Last but not least is plasma. Plasma also plays a crucial, and mostly unrecognized, job, carrying these blood components throughout the body as the fluid in which they travel. Plasma is the largest component of your blood, making up about 55 percent of its overall content. When isolated on its own, blood plasma is a light yellow liquid, similar to the color of straw. Along with water, plasma carries salts and enzymes. The primary purpose of plasma is to transport nutrients, hormones, and proteins to the parts of the body that need it. Cells also deposit their waste products into the plasma, and the plasma in turn helps remove this waste from the body. Blood plasma also ushers the movement of all the elements of blood through the circulatory system.
Anemia, sickle cell, and thrombocytopenia, all are conditions that are caused when one of those components are affected. Anemia occurs when your blood doesn't have enough red blood cells. This can happen if your body doesn't make enough red blood cells. Bleeding causes you to lose red blood cells more quickly than they can be replaced. Iron deficiency anemia is caused by a shortage of the element iron in your body. Your bone marrow needs iron to make hemoglobin. Without adequate iron, your body cannot produce enough hemoglobin for red blood cells. This type of anemia is often caused by blood loss. Many types of anemia can't be prevented. However, you can help avoid iron deficiency anemia and vitamin deficiency anemia’s by choosing a diet that includes a variety of vitamins and nutrients. Foods rich in Foliate, vitamin C and B-12, and iron will do the trick.
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited form of anemia — a condition in which there aren't

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