blood disorders

The blood is an essential red fluid that circulates in our bodies. The blood provides our body's cells with essential substances like oxygen and nutrients. Also, it transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.  But sometimes, occur conditions that impact the blood's ability to function correctly. Those conditions are called blood disorders. In this lesson, we are going to learn:

• What are blood disorders?
• Types of blood disorders.
• Signs and symptoms of blood disorders.

But first, let's remind what blood is, and what is the composition of blood, so we can go further on blood disorders.

Blood and composition of blood

 

Human blood is an essential red fluid that circulates in our bodies and provides our body's cells with essential substances like oxygen and nutrients, as well as, transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.

The human blood consists of plasma and formed elements: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. 

• Red blood (RBCs) cells carry oxygen to the body's tissues
• White blood cells (WBCs) fight infections
• Platelets  help the blood to clot

These three made up the solid part of the blood, and the plasma is the liquid part of the blood.

What are blood disorders?

Blood disorders are conditions that impact the blood's ability to function correctly. Abnormalities in any of the components of blood, or in related cells or tissues can cause a blood disorder. 

Blood disorders can be acute or chronic. They can be either malignant (cancerous) or nonmalignant (not cancerous). Many blood disorders are inherited. Other causes include other diseases, lack of certain nutrients in your diet, and side effects of medicines.

Symptoms of Blood Disorders

Fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath, recurrent fever and infections, abnormal bleeding and bruising, are some of the signs and symptoms that can point to some blood disorder. 

When doctors recognize that some of the symptoms refer to problems with our blood, they recommend tests, such as blood tests, bone marrow tests, and imaging tests. They send us to specialized doctors, called hematologists, which will apply their specialized knowledge to treat blood conditions.

Hematology is the study of blood in health and disease. It includes problems with the red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, blood vessels, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and the proteins involved in bleeding and clotting (hemostasis and thrombosis). 

Types of Blood Disorders

There are many different blood diseases that are diagnosed and treated by hematologists. They can involve one or more of the three main types of blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets). Blood disorders can also affect plasma.

Blood Disorders Affecting Red Blood Cells

Red blood cell disorders are conditions that affect red blood cells. There are many different types of red blood cell disorders, including anemia. Anemia is a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body's tissues. There are many types of anemia, with some having more serious outcomes than others. Some of them are:

• Iron-deficiency anemia, which is the most common type of anemia. It is caused due to insufficient iron.
• Sickle Cell anemia, which is an inherited disease where the red blood cells are shaped like Cs instead of their normal circular shape, so that is making issues with blood flow and can result in blockages.
• Normocytic anemia, which appears if the body is not producing enough RBCs, and their number is small.
• Hemolytic anemia, which is a disorder in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than they can be made. The destruction of red blood cells is called hemolysis.
• Fanconi anemia, rare but serious inherited blood disorder when the bone marrow cannot make red blood cells.
• Pernicious anemia, also known as B12 deficiency, is when the body is not absorbing enough B12 vitamins.

Other RBCs disorders include:

• Thalassemia is another blood disorder affecting RBCs, and this condition causes the body to produce little to no hemoglobin. It can lead to anemia. 
• Polycythemia vera is a type of blood cancer and is rare. It causes your bone marrow to make too many red blood cells. These excess cells thicken the blood, slowing its flow, which may cause serious problems, such as blood clots.

Blood disorders affecting White Blood Cells

White blood cell disorders occur when there is a change in white blood cell production, a problem with cellular function, or another issue with a particular type of white blood cell. Blood disorders that affect white blood cells include:

• Leukocytosis, which is an increased number of white blood cells.
• Leukocyte adhesion deficiencies (LAD syndromes), which are rare genetic disorders where the white blood cells are unable to move to areas of infection.
• Lymphoma, which is a form of blood cancer that develops in the lymph system, and white blood cell becomes malignant, multiplying, and spreading abnormally. Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are the two major groups of lymphoma. 
• Leukemia, which is a form of blood cancer where white blood cell becomes malignant and multiplies inside the bone marrow. Leukemia may be rapid and severe or slowly progressing.
• Multiple myeloma, which is a blood cancer where a white blood cell called a plasma cell becomes malignant. The plasma cells multiply and release damaging substances that eventually cause organ damage.  In multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow and crowd out healthy blood cells.

Blood disorders affecting platelets

Platelet disorders include an abnormal increase in platelets, a decrease in platelets, or platelet dysfunction. Some of the platelet disorders are:

• Thrombocytopenia, which is a low number of platelets in the blood.
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which is a condition that causes a persistently low number of platelets in the blood, due to an unknown cause. Usually, there are no symptoms, but abnormal bruising, small red spots on the skin, or abnormal bleeding can result.
• Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, which is a blood disorder that results in blood clots forming in small blood vessels throughout the body.
• Essential thrombocytosis (primary thrombocythemia), is rare chronic blood cancer when the body produces too many platelets due to an unknown cause. The platelets do not work properly, resulting in excessive clotting, bleeding, or both.

Other blood disorders include:

Hemophilia, which is a bleeding disorder (a group of disorders) in which a person lacks or has low levels of certain proteins called “clotting factors” and the blood doesn't clot properly as a result. This leads to excessive bleeding. Hemophilia may be inherited, or it may be caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation of the factor gene occurring either in the mother or in the child.

Von Willebrand disease, which is a lifelong bleeding disorder in which your blood doesn't clot well. The person with the disease have low levels of von Willebrand factor, which is a protein that helps blood clot, or the protein doesn't perform as it should.

 

Treatment of blood disorders

Treatments and prognosis for blood diseases vary, depending on the blood condition and its severity. Steroids or other drugs are used to suppress the immune system. Chemotherapy is used to destroy abnormal cells. Transfusions are used to support the body with healthy blood cells. For some disorders, there is no cure, but some medical methods allow many people to live for years with the condition.