In various situations, when making certain diagnoses, doctors often strongly recommend that we take a blood test. It is very informative and allows you to evaluate the protective properties of our body in a particular disease. There are a lot of indicators in it, one of them is the volume of red blood cells. Many of you have probably never thought about it. But in vain. After all, everything is thought out by nature to the smallest detail. The same is true for erythrocytes. Let's take a closer look.
What are red blood cells?
Red blood cells play an important role in the human body. Their main task is to supply oxygen that comes during breathing to all tissues and organs of our body. The carbon dioxide formed in this situation must be urgently removed from the body, and here the erythrocyte is the main assistant. By the way, these blood cells also enrich our body with nutrients. Red blood cells contain a well-known red pigment called hemoglobin. It is he who is able to bind oxygen in the lungs for its more convenient removal, and release it in the tissues. Of course, like anyanother indicator in the human body, the number of red blood cells may decrease or increase. And there are reasons for this:
- an increase in the number of blood cells in the blood indicates serious dehydration of the body or chronic leukemia (erythremia);
- a decrease in this indicator will indicate anemia (this is not a disease, but such a blood condition can contribute to the development of a large number of other diseases);
- by the way, oddly enough, red blood cells are often detected in the urine of patients who complain of problems with the urinary system (bladder, kidneys, etc.).
Very interesting fact: the size of an erythrocyte can sometimes change significantly, this happens due to the elasticity of these cells. For example, the diameter of a capillary through which an 8 µm red blood cell can pass is only 2-3 µm.
RBC functions
It would seem that a small red blood cell can be useful in such a large human body. But the size of the erythrocyte does not matter here. It is important that these cells perform vital functions:
- Protect the body from toxins: bind them for later removal. This happens due to the presence of protein substances on the surface of red blood cells.
- Transfer enzymes, called specific protein catalysts in the medical literature, to cells and tissues.
- Due to them, a person breathes. This is due to the content in the erythrocytehemoglobin (it is able to attach and release oxygen, as well as carbon dioxide).
- Erythrocytes nourish the body with amino acids, which they easily transport from the digestive tract to cells and tissues.
RBC formation site
It is important to know where red blood cells are formed so that in case of problems with their concentration in the blood, to be able to take action in time. The process of making them is complicated.
The place of formation of red blood cells is the bone marrow, spine and ribs. Let us consider in more detail the first of them: first, brain tissues grow due to cell division. Later, from the cells that are responsible for creating the entire human circulatory system, one large red body is formed, which has a nucleus and hemoglobin. It directly produces the precursor of the red blood cell (reticulocyte), which, entering the bloodstream, transforms into an erythrocyte in 2-3 hours.
The structure of the red blood cell
Since there is a large amount of hemoglobin in erythrocytes, this causes their bright red color. In this case, the cell has a biconcave shape. The structure of erythrocytes of immature cells provides for the presence of a nucleus, which cannot be said about the finally formed body. The diameter of erythrocytes is 7-8 microns, and the thickness is less - 2-2.5 microns. The fact that mature red blood cells no longer have a nucleus allows oxygen to penetrate them faster. The total number of red blood cells in human blood is very high. If they are folded into one line, then its length will beabout 150 thousand km. Various terms are used for erythrocytes that characterize deviations in their size, color and other characteristics:
- normocytosis - normal average size;
- microcytosis - smaller than normal size;
- macrocytosis - larger than normal size;
- anitocytosis - while cell sizes vary significantly, i.e. some of them are too large, others are too small;
- hypochromia - when the amount of hemoglobin in red blood cells is less than normal;
- poikilocytosis - the shape of the cells is significantly changed, some of them are oval, others are sickle-shaped;
- normochromia - the amount of hemoglobin in the cells is normal, therefore they are colored correctly.
How an erythrocyte lives
From the above, we have already found out that the place of formation of red blood cells is the bone marrow of the skull, ribs and spine. But, once in the blood, how long do these cells stay there? Scientists have found that the life of an erythrocyte is quite short - an average of about 120 days (4 months). By this time, he begins to age for two reasons. This is the metabolism (breakdown) of glucose and an increase in the content of fatty acids in it. The erythrocyte begins to lose energy and elasticity of the membrane, because of this, numerous outgrowths appear on it. Most often, red blood cells are destroyed inside blood vessels or in some organs (liver, spleen, bone marrow). Compounds formed as a result of the breakdown of red blood cells are easily excreted from the human body with urine and feces.
RBC count: tests to detect their level
BIn principle, there are only two types of tests in medicine that detect red blood cells: blood and urine tests.
The last of them rarely shows the presence of red cells, and often this is due precisely to the presence of some kind of pathology. But human blood always contains red blood cells, and it is important to know the norms of this indicator. the distribution of erythrocytes in the blood of an absolutely he althy person is even, and their content is quite high. That is, if he had the opportunity to count all their number, he would get a huge figure that does not carry any information. Therefore, in the course of laboratory studies, it is customary to use the following method: to count red blood cells in a certain volume (1 cubic millimeter of blood). By the way, this value will allow you to correctly assess the level of red blood cells and identify existing pathologies or he alth problems. It is important that the place of residence of the patient, his gender and age has a special influence on him.
Norms of erythrocytes in the blood
A he althy person rarely has any deviations in this indicator throughout life.
So, there are the following norms for children:
- the first 24 hours of a baby's life - 4, 3-7, 6 million / 1 cu. mm blood;
- first month of life - 3.8-5.6 million/1 cu. mm blood;
- the first 6 months of a child's life - 3.5-4.8 million/1 cu. mm blood;
- during the 1st year of life - 3.6-4.9 million/1 cu. mm blood;
- 1 year - 12 years - 3.5-4.7 million/1 cubic meter mm blood;
- after 13 years - 3.6-5.1 million/1 cu. mm blood.
A large number of red blood cells in the baby's blood is easy to explain. When he is in his mother's womb, the formation of red blood cells goes on in an accelerated mode, because only in this way will all his cells and tissues be able to receive the necessary amount of oxygen and nutrients for their growth and development. When a baby is born, red blood cells begin to break down rapidly, and their concentration in the blood decreases (if this process is too fast, the baby develops jaundice).
Norms for the content of red blood cells in the blood for adults:
- Men: 4.5-5.5 million/1 cu. mm blood.
- Women: 3.7-4.7m/1cc mm blood.
- Older people: less than 4 million/1 cu. mm blood.
Of course, a deviation from the norm may be due to some problem in the human body, but a specialist consultation is required here.
Erythrocytes in the urine - can this situation arise?
Yes, the answer of the doctors is definitely positive. Of course, in rare cases, this may occur due to the fact that a person carried a heavy load or was in an upright position for a long time. But often an increased concentration of red blood cells in the urine indicates the presence of problems and requires the advice of a competent specialist. Remember some of its norms in this substance:
- normal value should be 0-2pcs. in sight;
- when a urine test is performed according to the Nechiporenko method, there can be more than a thousand erythrocytes in the field of view of the laboratory assistant;
Doctor atif the patient has such urine tests, he will look for a specific reason for the appearance of red blood cells in it, allowing the following options:
- if we are talking about children, then pyelonephritis, cystitis, glomerulonephritis are considered;
- urethritis (this takes into account the presence of other symptoms: pain in the lower abdomen, painful urination, fever);
- Urolithiasis: the patient simultaneously complains of blood in the urine and attacks of renal colic;
- glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis (back pain and fever);
- kidney tumors;
- prostate adenoma.
Change in the number of red blood cells in the blood: causes
The structure of erythrocytes suggests the presence of a large amount of hemoglobin in them, which means a substance that can attach oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Therefore, deviations from the norm, characterizing the number of red blood cells in the blood, can be dangerous to your he alth. An increase in the level of red blood cells in a person's blood (erythrocytosis) is not often observed and may be due to some simple reasons: stress, excessive exercise, dehydration, or living in a mountainous area. But if this is not the case, pay attention to the following diseases that cause an increase in this indicator:
- Blood problems, including erythremia. Usually a person has a red color of the skin of the neck, face.
- Development of pathologies in the lungs and cardiovascular system.
Reducing the number of red blood cells, called erythropenia in medicine, can also be caused by several reasons. First of all, it is anemia, or anemia. It may be associated with a violation of the formation of red blood cells in the bone marrow. When a person loses a certain amount of blood or red blood cells break down too quickly in his blood, this situation also occurs. Doctors often diagnose patients with iron deficiency anemia. Iron simply may not be supplied in sufficient quantities to the human body or it may not be absorbed well. Most often, to correct the situation, specialists prescribe vitamin B12 and folic acid along with iron-containing drugs to patients.
ESR indicator: what does it mean
Often a doctor, having received a patient who complains of any colds (which have not gone away for a long time), prescribes a general blood test for him.
In it, often on the very last line you will see an interesting indicator of blood erythrocytes, characterizing their sedimentation rate (ESR). How can such a study be carried out in the laboratory? Very easy: the patient's blood is placed in a thin glass tube and left upright for a while. Erythrocytes will surely settle to the bottom, leaving a transparent plasma in the upper layer of blood. The unit of measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate is mm/hour. This indicator may vary depending on gender and age, for example:
- children: 1 month oldbabies - 4-8 mm / hour; 6 months - 4-10 mm / hour; 1 year-12 years - 4-12 mm/hour;
- men: 1-10mm/hour;
- women: 2-15mm/hour; pregnant women - 45 mm/hour.
How informative is this indicator? Of course, in recent years, doctors have begun to pay less and less attention to it. It is believed that there are many errors in it, which can be associated, for example, in children, with an excited state (screaming, crying) during blood sampling. But in general, an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate is the result of an inflammatory process developing in your body (say, bronchitis, pneumonia, any other cold or infectious disease). Also, an increase in ESR is observed during pregnancy, menstruation, chronic pathologies or diseases that a person has, as well as injuries, stroke, heart attack, etc. Of course, a decrease in ESR is observed much less frequently and already indicates the presence of more serious problems: these are leukemia, hepatitis, hyperbilirubinemia and more.
As we found out, the place where red blood cells are formed is the bone marrow, ribs and spine. Therefore, if there are problems with the number of red blood cells in the blood, you should first of all pay attention to the first of them. Each person needs to clearly understand that all the indicators in the tests that we pass are very important for our body, and it is better not to treat them negligently. Therefore, if you have passed such a study, please contact a competent specialist to decipher it. This does not mean that at the slightest deviation from the norm in the analysis, you must immediatelypanic. Just follow through, especially when it comes to your he alth.
