O blood is a very important tissue for the human body, as it is mainly related to the transport of nutrients and oxygen to the body's cells. It is basically formed by plasma, a substance rich in water, and figurative elements, which include white blood cells, platelets and erythrocytes.
You erythrocytes, also called red blood cells or erythrocytes, have great flexibility, rounded shape and biconcave disc shape, that is, they have thinner centers and thicker edges. When mature, these cells do not have a nucleus or some organelles, as is the case with mitochondria.
Due to the absence of these structures at maturity, erythrocytes survive for a limited period of time, about 120 days. After this period, they are taken to the spleen where their destruction occurs. It is important to highlight that the components of erythrocytes are reused for the formation of new cells.
The main characteristic of erythrocytes is the presence of a protein rich in iron: the hemoglobin. This protein ensures the transport of oxygen and also causes the blood to acquire its characteristic red color.
A very common problem related to erythrocytes is theanemia, which is caused by the decrease in the amount of hemoglobin in the blood. In most cases, this problem occurs as a consequence of the destruction of erythrocytes, low production or even a lack of substances necessary for the synthesis of hemoglobin. It is noteworthy that anemia can be due to exaggerated blood loss (hemorrhages) or even bone marrow defects.
The most common form of anemia is one in which there is a low production of hemoglobin. This process is triggered by the lack of iron in the diet, a substance that is essential for the production of this protein. In such cases, the indicated treatment is the ingestion of ferrous sulfate and iron-rich foods.
In the image, the first erythrocyte resembles that presented by people with sickle cell anemia. The second, in turn, is in its normal format
An anemic person has the deficient transport of oxygen to the cells as the main problem. Without oxygen, cells cannot produce enough energy for the body to function properly and, therefore, patients start to present weakness, tiredness, shortness of breath, pale skin, among others symptoms.
In addition to the type of anemia presented, there is also the sickle cell anemia, a less common and hereditary form. In these cases, the erythrocyte, instead of having a biconcave shape, has a sickle shape (see image above). This cell is less flexible and has a very short life, which triggers anemia. As it is an inherited disease, there is no treatment, only symptom relief.
Curiosity:THE amount of erythrocytes in the human body varies between sexes. Women have 4 to 5 million erythrocytes per cubic millimeter, and men have an average of 4.5 to 6 million.
By Ma. Vanessa dos Santos