Blood disorders - Coping up with Blood disorders - Diseases Treatment - Symptoms, Causes and Cure for Diseases on A to Z

Blood disorders - How to Cope up with Blood disorders?

Your blood has two basic parts: blood cells, which are also called blood corpuscles; and plasma, the fluid in which the blood cells are suspended. The disorders of the blood that are discussed in this section are principally concerned with the blood cells.Most of the blood cells in your body are red blood cells. Their main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. Red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin, which combines with oxygen in the lungs and releases it to the tissues as the blood circulates through your body. The red blood cells also carry the waste product carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs so that it can be exhaled.

Your body also contains white blood cells, which protect the body from infection. There are several different kinds of white blood cells. Most of them are neutrophils, which attack and engulf bacteria. Another kind, the lymphocyte, recognizes foreign cells, infectious agents, and other foreign substances and participates in the body's immune reaction against them. There are other varieties of white blood cells, but these two are the most numerous.

A third type of blood cell is the platelet. Platelets gather wherever a blood vessel is injured, to plug the hole. This is the first stage in the blood clotting process. Chemical substances in the plasma then assist in forming a clot that seals the wound.

Most blood cells are produced in the bone marrow. However, lymphocytes are made in the spleen or in the lymph glands, which are found in the neck, armpits, groin and many other parts of the body. The spleen and lymph glands, together with the channels and ducts connecting them, are called the lymphatic system. When red blood cells and platelets become old or defective they are filtered out of the bloodstream and broken down by the spleen, and also by the liver and lymph glands.

Disorders of the blood are grouped as follows: lack of hemoglobin, which causes anemia; disorders in clotting, which cause bleeding and bruising; cancerous changes in the white cells, which cause leukemia; disorders in the production of blood cells in the bone marrow; and disorders that affect the lymphatic system.