When the blood is he althy, the internal organs are well nourished, the immune system works well. But blood can get sick. Anemia, polycythemia, leukemia and hemophilia are just some examples of blood diseases.

Blood diseases: anemia (anemia)

There is not enough red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood. Appear dizziness, fainting, pale skin and mucous membranes, memory impairment, drowsiness.

The cause ofanemiamay be: blood loss, insufficient production of erythrocytes or their accelerated breakdown, deficiency of B vitamins, folic acid, iron, bone marrow cancer.

Treatment depends on the causeblood disease . An adequate diet rich in iron and vitamins is often enough. In more severe cases, blood transfusion and sometimes bone marrow transplantation are used.

Important

Cord blood banks are created like mushrooms after the rain, also in Poland. They store blood taken during delivery from the placenta and part of the umbilical cord. Such blood is a valuable source of the parental cells involved in the production of blood cells. It is stored in case the child has a disease that requires a stem cell transplant. When frozen in liquid nitrogen, it can wait a lifetime for a donor. Collecting, testing and freezing the sample is an expense of approx. PLN 3,000. PLN, storing it - about 500 PLN per year. You can also pay a subscription up to the age of 18 - over 4,000. PLN and for a lifetime - 8 thousand. zloty. Unfortunately, there is still a shortage of funds to maintain public banks, which would collect blood for common use.

Blood diseases: hyperemia (polycythemia)

This is the overproduction of red blood cells. The typical symptom is red or reddish color of the facial skin, mouth and conjunctiva congestion.

Polycythemiamay be caused by prolonged hypoxia or proliferative changes in the bone marrow. If the cause is hypoxia, the underlying disease (lungs, heart) must be treated. In the case of proliferative changes, mild cytostatic drugs in tablets are administered.

Blood diseases: leukemia

Has different forms. In myeloid leukemias, the bone marrow stem cells start producing huge amounts of leukocytes. In addition, their growing number is displacing other cellsblood, including red blood cells. Therefore, leukemia is usually accompanied by anemia. Treatment depends on the severity and type of leukemia. The usual combination of treatments is chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation.

Blood diseases: hemophilia (hemorrhagic diathesis)

Coagulation is impaired as a result of the mutation of the gene that determines the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin. Only men get sick. For no apparent reason, bleeding occurs in muscles and joints, and sometimes profuse, life-threatening hemorrhages occur. Patients receive preparations restoring proper clotting.

Did you know that 30% of people with lymphocytic leukemia do not have any symptoms at the time of diagnosis?

Check to see if you are at risk. Watch the video report and learn more.

Source: Youtube.com

Blood count: are you normal?

The information contained in the blood reflects changes in all organs. Therefore, the analysis allows you to detect diseases not only of the blood itself, but also of organs and systems of the entire body. In the taken sample, the most common words are:

  • Hematocrit (HTC) - blood cell volume to total blood volume, expressed as a percentage. It amounts to about 40%, and is slightly higher in men than in women. Low hematocrit may indicate anemia.
  • Hemoglobin (HGB) - its level expresses the ability to carry oxygen through the red blood cell. Low indicates anemia. The standard for women: 12-15 g / dl, for men: 13.6-17 g / dl.
  • Erythrocytes (RBC) - the norm is 4-5 million / mm3 in women and 5-5.5 million in mm3 in men. A drop indicates anemia.
  • Leukocytes (WBC) - the norm for both sexes is 6-8 thousand in 1 mm3, but during infection it increases to several to several dozen thousand and may persist for some time after the disease. A high level of leukocytes for no apparent reason and the accompanying disturbance of the proportions between their types may also indicate a cancerous process or be a symptom of leukemia.
  • Platelets (PLT) - the norm is 150-400 thousand. A smaller amount indicates a blood clotting disorder, a larger amount - an increased tendency to thrombosis.
  • ESR, or ESR, averaging 10mm per hour. Growth is evidence of an ongoing inflammatory or neoplastic process.

Customized transfusion

In the event of a violent hemorrhage, for example due to spleen rupture, gastric ulcer or cut artery, blood transfusion is the only solution. Sudden loss of about 2 liters of blood leads to disturbance of the human hydraulic system. Violentlyblood pressure drops, which leads to shock and is a direct threat to life.

In such a situation, you must immediately give whole blood, i.e. blood that circulates in the veins, to replenish the amount of fluid in the body as soon as possible. Unfortunately, in order to avoid complications, the blood must be transfused slowly (transfusion of 1 unit, i.e. 300 ml, takes about an hour).

If blood loss occurs gradually, the bone marrow is told that it has to work with redoubled energy to make up for the loss. Usually copes with it, but it all depends on the individual capabilities of the body and the amount of blood lost. To help him, he needs iron and vitamins for blood production. A transfusion is needed in some surgeries and diseases. Then only the missing blood elements are transfused. Most often they are red blood cells concentrated twice. They are administered during surgical treatment sessions or in the case of anemia.

Platelets are needed for people with diagnosed bone marrow loss or after chemotherapy. As there are few platelets in the blood, "decomposed" concentrates from different donors are usually used. Plasma transfusion is necessary in the case of impaired blood clotting, but when the number of red blood cells and platelets is normal, e.g. in haemophilia, vitamin K deficiency or liver failure. Leukocytes are unlikely to be transfused, because they cause severe allergic reactions, and in addition they live very shortly.

Plates separated

The transfusion of plasma or red blood cells is possible due to the fact that after collecting blood from a donor, a special centrifuge separates its individual fractions. Then preparations are made and stored in the refrigerator. Red blood cells remain viable for about a month, whole blood - shorter, and platelets live for several days. Blood is often collected at blood donation stations using a modern separation method - the donor does not donate whole blood, but a specific blood component. Most often these are platelets, of which there is very little in blood collected using the traditional method. For this purpose, two punctures are made into two veins. Blood drawn from one of them flows through a special device - a cell separator, where the plates (or erythrocytes) are "collected". The rest goes to the other vein and returns to the body.

Autotransfusion

Patients are often given blood after surgery. As this is a foreign tissue transplant, complications can arise. In order to prevent them from happening, in the case of planned procedures, autotransfusion is used more and more often, i.e. the patient is transfused with his own blood. Before that, the patient is referred to a blood donation station for blood donation for surgery. The date of the surgerycannot exceed the expiry date of a preparation made of this blood.

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Category:

Cardiology