Red Blood Cell Functions, Range and Treatment

 

In addition to delivering oxygen to your body's tissues, red blood cells also allow you to expel carbon dioxide from your lungs. Energy is produced by oxygen, and energy is necessary for maintaining body health.

cellular component of blood; millions of these cells give blood its distinctive color and transport oxygen from the lungs to the tissues during vertebrate circulation. Mature human red blood cells are spherical, biconcave, and tiny; from the side, they resemble dumbbells. As the cell travels through minuscule blood arteries, it becomes flexible and takes on the shape of a bell. It has no nucleus, a membrane made of lipids and proteins covering it, and hemoglobin, a crimson, iron-rich protein that binds oxygen, is present.

If you have any of the following medical disorders, your RBC count could become abnormally high or low: erythrocytosis, dietary deficiencies, and some chronic illnesses.

Your doctor will do a blood test called a red blood cell count to determine your total red blood cell count (RBC). Another name for it is an erythrocyte count.

Since hemoglobin, which is found in red blood cells, transports oxygen to body tissues, the test is crucial. The amount of oxygen that reaches your tissues depends on your red blood cell count. For your tissues to work, oxygen is necessary.

Also Read: Blood Cell, Types and Functions

 What are Red blood Cells?

Red blood cells (RBCs), also known as erythrocytes, are a vital component of blood. These blood cells travel throughout the body, delivering oxygen from the lungs to every tissue. It is in charge of giving blood its distinctive color. Human mature erythrocytes resemble dumbbells in that they are tiny, spherical, and biconcave. Because of its flexibility, the cell can reorganize to assume a bell shape as it travels through minuscule blood channels.

About 40–45% of blood's volume is made up of erythrocytes, or red blood cells, which are responsible for blood's characteristic color. Our bone marrow is where red blood cells are made, and there they stay for around 120 days on average. The primary job of the red blood cell is to transport oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. Additionally, red blood cells carry waste products like carbon dioxide back to our lungs for exhalation. Because of a molecule called hemoglobin, red blood cells are able to carry oxygen. 

The "heme" and "globin" groups are the two primary components of hemoglobin. What gives red blood cells their color is iron, which is found in the heme group. As oxygen travels throughout the body, the globin group of proteins aids in the transportation and storage of that oxygen by the red blood cell. 

Function

Red Blood Cells: What Do They Do?

Oxygen is transferred from your lungs to the tissues in your body via red blood cells. Your tissues use oxygen to create energy and expel carbon dioxide, a waste product. The waste carbon dioxide is carried to your lungs by your red blood cells so you can exhale.

The purpose of the red cell and hemoglobin is to transport oxygen from the lungs or gills to every part of the body and to transport carbon dioxide, which is waste from metabolism, to the lungs where it is expelled. In invertebrates, the pigment that carries oxygen is carried freely in the plasma; in vertebrates, its concentration in red cells allows for a more efficient exchange of gases between oxygen and carbon dioxide, which is a significant evolutionary development. The red cell of mammals is further adapted by not having a nucleus, which results in a very low amount of oxygen needed by the cell for its own metabolism and allows for the majority of oxygen carried to be released into the tissues.

The cell's biconcave form permits oxygen exchange over the greatest possible area at a steady rate.

Anatomy:

Red Blood Cells are Produced Where?

It takes around seven days for red blood cells to fully mature in the bone marrow, the soft tissue that makes up your body. At that point, the cells are released into the bloodstream.

How Do Red Blood Cells Look Like?

Hemoglobin, a protein that enables red blood cells to transport oxygen from your lungs to other body parts, gives red blood cells their bright red color.

Red blood cells are microscopic and resemble a round, flat disk or doughnut with a central indentation; nevertheless, they are not hollow. Unlike white blood cells, red blood cells lack a nucleus, which makes it easier for them to alter shape and circulate throughout your body.

What are Red Blood Cell Made of Red Blood Cells?

Your bone marrow is where red blood cells develop. Nearly every cell in your body is created in your bone marrow. Hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells, is in charge of carrying oxygen.

What Red Blood Cell Disorders Commonly Cause Symptoms?

Typical signs of disorders affecting red blood cells are as follows:

• Fatigued.
• Weakening of the muscles.
• Lack energy.
• Headache or dizziness.
• Vision blurry.
• Hands and feet cold.

Why is the Red Blood Cell Count Low?

Low red blood cell counts can be caused by the following factors:

• Iron, vitamin B9, and vitamin B12 deficiency.
• Malnutrition.
• Pre-existing illnesses or chemotherapy used to treat cancer.

What is the Count of Red Blood Cells High?

High red blood cell counts can be caused by the following factors:

• Cigarette smoking.
• living in a high altitude.
• using medicines to improve performance (anabolic steroids).
• dehydration of the body.
• medical issue, such as lung or cardiac problems.

What is the Normal Range of Red Blood Cells?

Individual differences exist in normal red blood cell counts; nonetheless, broad ranges consist of:

• Male at birth (AMAB) individuals have between 4.7 and 6.1 million red blood cells per microliter of blood.
• RBC counts in individuals classified as female at birth (AFAB) range from 4.2 to 5.4 million per microliter of blood.
• Red blood cells per microliter of blood in children range from 4 to 5.5 million.
• Your healthcare practitioner will recommend further testing or therapies if your count falls outside of these ranges, indicating that it is either too high or too low.

What Red Blood Cell Diseases are Commonly Treated?

The course of treatment for abnormalities of the red blood cells is determined by the severity and diagnosis of the problem. The spectrum of treatment includes:

• Taking vitamins.
• Maintaining a diet in balance.
• Addressing current health issues.
• Getting a transfusion of blood.