SEC S20W2 || Hemoglobin - Module 2

Hello everyone!

I have joined a course by @dexsyluz under the umbrella of the great Steemit Team. It is all about understanding hematology specifically hemoglobin. If you have not joined it yet and want to join then

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Join Here: SEC S20W2 || Hematology [Hemoglobin - Module 2]

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Death of Rafael Rangel

In the whole world there have been many scientists in different fields. We cannot deny their services for opening new opportunities in each field. Similarly if we see in the past we will find many great scientists who drove the work in the medical fields. And Rafael Rangel is one of them.

Rafael Rangel was a Venezuelan scientist. And he is well known for his services. He contributed in the parasitology and tropical medicines. And we lost this great scientists on August 20, 2909.

If we dive deep in his life and his contributions towards the community then we come to know that he played a key role in the identification of the parasitic diseases. He identified hookworm as well. He worked for the improvement of the public health in Venezuela.

Struggles and challenges are also the part of life. Indeed his services are keys to the new opportunities. Rafael Rangel faced significant personal issues as well as professional struggles. These issues led him to severe depression. And utlimstely he lost his heartbeats of life by ingesting cyanide. But his contributions additions to science are impacting the medical community regularly. His contributions are most helpful and respectful for Venezuela where he worked for the improvement of the public health.

Describe Hemoglobin

We often hear about hemoglobin in our daily life but many of us do not know what it is. When we visit the doctors we hear them talking about this and they often say to the patients that you have low HB. Actually here HB stands for Hemoglobin in the medical field. So talking about about hemoglobin something related to blood comes in our mind. So let me break it due what it actually is.

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Hemoglobin

Hemoglobin is a crucial protein. And it is found in red blood cells. It is responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues in the whole body during *inhalation" process. While providing oxygen it is also responsible for returning carbon dioxide back to the lungs for exhalation.

Structure and Function of Hemoglobin

• Structure: Hemoglobin is composed of four protein subunits. Each subunit contains a heme group with an iron atom. And that atom is binded to oxygen molecules.

• Function: Hemoglobin gets oxygen from the lungs and then releases it in tissues. It is provided to those tissues where there is the need for oxygen. And it ensured that cells revive necessary and required oxygen for the production of energy.

Importance in Health

Hemoglobin is very important factor for the health. The availability of the healthy hemoglobin varies with the age and gender. Moreover it's normal quantity in body ensure good working of the tissues and ultimately the whole body. It's low or excessive quantity is bad for health. Normal levels of hemoglobin are 14 to 18 g/dl for the males and similarly 12 to 16 g/dl for women. Depending on the availability of it's quantity we can distribute it into two cases which are given below:

• Low Hemoglobin Level: If our body has low Hemoglobin than the required level then our body faces anemia disease. So it's low quantity harmful for the health.

• High Hemoglobin Level: If our body has excessive quality of hemoglobin then the normal level then it causes polycythemia. So it's excess is bad and can affect the health.

Automated Hematocrit vs. Manual Hematocrit

Before talking about the types of the Hematocrit measurement methods let me define this term first.

Hematocrit is the measurement of the percentage of red blood cells in the blood. As we need a method to measure anything. Similarly there are two primary methods for measuring hematocrit. These two methods are automated and manual.

Automated Hematocrit

Because of the revolution in technology we can now measure the Hematocrit level in the blood automatically.

• Method: Modern hematology analyzers calculate hematocrit by measuring red blood cell count and mean cell volume.

• Advantages: This method is quick and accurate. It is also reproducible which makes this method very useful for large scale clinical use.

• Limitations: Indeed this method is highly efficient and effective but it comes with some limitations. This method can face occasional calibration errors or machine malfunctions. And at that time it also requires manual verification.

Manual Hematocrit

Manual and classic measurements methods are still of great use because the results are verified by the humans not by the machines.

• Method: Blood is centrifuged in a capillary tube. In the centrifugal machine the red and white blood cells are separated. And after that hematocrit is calculated by measuring the proportion of the blood made up of red blood cells.

• Advantages: This method is useful in laboratories with limited access to automated machines. Moreover this method can also serve as a backup to verify unusual results from automated tests.

• Limitations: It is labor intensive, time consuming method. And there are chances of human error. But if we see it according to the availability of the resources for the automatic machines then it can be useful.

Real life Example of Hematocrit

Hematocrit level is very important for the body and for the continuous workloads. There is a great real life example of the Hematocrit. I am talking about the endurance athletes.

Image by Viện Huyết học - Truyền máu Trung ương from Pixabay

Endurance Athletes

In the sports Hematocrit level of the players is often checked. But especially in the endurance athletes such as marathon runners and cyclists hematocrit levels are often monitored. They help to assess the oxygen carrying capacity of the body.

Athletic Performance

A high hematocrit level allows for more oxygen to be delivered to muscles. It enhances the stamina of the players. It increases the endurance during the physical activity. High hematocrit level helps the athletes to make their performance better specifically it is useful in long distance events.

Actually while work the tissues need more and consecutive amount of oxygen. If the body of the athletes have enough hematocrit level in the body then they will be able to get enough oxygen to perform well. And if we see its opposite side with a lower level of hematocrit than normal level then it will cause less supply of oxygen to the tissues in the body and ultimately it will affect the performance of the athletes.

Health Risks

Hematocrit level causes the viscosity in the blood. If hematocrit levels are too high then blood becomes more viscous. It increases the risk of blood clots. High viscosity of the blood can cause strikes and heart attacks. It increases the risk of the blood clots.

My father died with a heart attack and I think it happened because of the too high level of hematocrit in the body which caused clots and blockage in the heart. May his soul rest in peace Ameen.

Some athletes maintain their level of hematocrit artificially. Athletes have turned to doping with erythropoietin to maintain the level of hematocrit artificially. It can enhance the performance of the athletes. But carefully monitoring is highly required because it can cause serious health issues and makes it a dangerous practice.

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Conclusion

Hemoglobin is an important protein in the body which transports the oxygen in the body. It maintains the health. Deviation fromm normal level causes cause different diseases such as anemia for lower level and polycythemia for the higher level than normal. Hematocrit is the key to measure the concentration of red blood cells in the blood. We can analyse it from manual as well as automated methods. We need to monitor hematocrit levels closely especially for the endurance athletes as they directly affect the performance of the players.

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