What is a red blood cell?
Red blood cell or erythrocyte is the most common type of cell in the blood. It carries oxygen throughout the circulatory system, from the lungs to the rest of the body and brings waste of carbon dioxide back the other way around. All body tissues are dependent on oxygen from these cells - if the flow is cut off, the tissue will die. Specifically, several health conditions, including the anemia of the sickles, thalassymia and spherytosis, are linked, but changes in the amount of these cells may also be a sign of other disorders.
characteristics
red blood cells have a diameter of about 6 to 8 micrometers (millions of meters), which is similar to most cells in the body. They are round and red, with depression in the center. Adults have 20 to 30 trillion of these cells in their bodies, with men on average more than women, and each of them lives for about 120 days before it falls apart. They are very flexible, which is important for their functioning, because they often have to compress small holes.
Function
The main purpose of red blood cells is the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the circulatory system. The reason they can do this is that they contain a protein containing iron called hemoglobin that binds to oxygen. When oxygen and hemoglobin are combined, the cells cause the cells to become bright red. That is why blood looks red when it goes outside the body - when they are exposed to open cut, the cells are exposed to many atmospheric oxygen. Once all oxygen connected to the cells are used, they collect carbon dioxide and other waste gases from the body and bring it back to the lungs where they exchange it for oxygen and start the cycle again.
Related disorders
There are a number of medical -red blood cell disorders, one of the most common diseases of the sickle cells. It is a genetic disorder that causes cells to become rigid and sickle. This makes them unable to move properly throughout the circulatory system and can lead to differentM problems, including strokes, blindness and chronic pain. Spherocytosis is another genetic condition that changes the shape of cells and makes them fragile, but unlike sickle cells, it makes them spherical.
Several other conditions cause the abnormalities of red blood cells by disturbing the correct production of hemoglobin. This includes thalassemia, a genetic disorder that causes abnormal hemoglobin molecules and malignant anemia in which the body does not absorb enough B12, which is needed for hemoglobin. In addition, conditions such as G6PD deficiency, hemolytic fetal and newborn diseases and aplastic anemia can cause problems with the formation and life of red blood cells.
In addition to the conditions that affect the cells themselves, increase or reduce the number of red blood cells in the body may be a symptom of several conditions. A high number of red blood cells, also called polycythemia, may be caused by poor kidney circulation, genetic heart problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (whatPd) and lung fibrosis. Some people are also born with genetic variants that cause them to have a higher number of red blood cells. Lower than a normal number may be a sign of poor nutrition, bone marrow and leukemia problems.