SEC S20W1 || Hemoglobin - Module 2

Greetings everyone, it is a pleasure to join this week's engagement challenge which was organized by @dexsyluz who happens to be one of the members of the Teaching teams for season 20. Today I'm participating in the contest titled Hemoglobin - Module 2. A few questions have been given to attempt and I will be doing that straight away.

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Death of Rafael Rangel (2.0 points)

One of the earliest parasitologists of our time is Rafael Rangel. Because of his enormous contribution to the research of parasites he was called the father of of parasitology in Venezuela. He died on the 20th August 1909. As a scientist, he was always working hard to profile solutions to the disease attacking his people in Venezuela.

Rafael Rangel who is a scientist with a passion for solving real-life issues was able to work tirelessly on two well-known projects i.e., hookworms & bubonic plague that broke out in Venezuela during his time. Although he contributed his quota to his country in the best way he could, he still didn't get the recognition he deserved.

Also because of a lack of resources, the work wasn't as effective as he wanted it to be. Rafael Rangel committed suicide due to pressure which he faced in his professional life as a medical scientist. Despite that, the field of parasitology in the whole of Venezuela can never forget the valuable contribution of this heroic figure.

Describe Hemoglobin (2.0 points)

When we hear the word Hemoglobin, the first thing that comes to our mind is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the body system i.e. the movement of oxygen from the lungs to the different body tissues in our body system. Now after moving this oxygen from the lungs to the different tissues in our body, we also have a movement of carbon dioxide back to the lungs from the body tissues.

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This simply means that the lungs give out oxygen to the different body tissues whereas the body tissue gives out carbon dioxide to the lungs. This movement helps to give red blood cells their colors and it also keeps the movement of these circles in the neck.

It is important to mention here that the hemoglobin is made up of 4 protein subunits. Each of these subunits consists of the heme group which is capable of accommodating oxygen because it contains an iron ion. So when this is combined it forms what we now refer to as oxyhemoglobin which is then sent to the tissues since they are being used there.

After depositing the oxygen in the tissues it then picks up carbon dioxide and other waste products back to the lungs of the system and there those unwanted particles are disposed of. If your system is functioning properly it means that the hemoglobin is working well in your system and in cases where there is an abnormality such as anemia and sick cells among others it implies that the hemoglobin in your system is not working.

Automated Hematocrit vs Manual Hematocrit (2.5 points)

There are two major ways to measure the percentage of red blood cells in the human body and these are the Automated Hematocrit and Manual Hematocrit. I will use a table to compare between these two items for your understanding. So let's consider the table below.

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Factor	Automated Hematocrit	Manual Hematocrit
Method	As the name implies, it uses an automated analyzer to perform calculations of the red blood in anyone.	Here the blood is drawn out manually from a person and then separated so that the amount of red blood can be properly captured.
Accuracy	Since it has been designed, it reduces human error during calculation	Not too accurate because human error can occur during the analysis.
Speed	Since it is automated, it is faster and capable of processing many samples given to it within a short period.	Here the speed is slower because of the manual work done before the processing.
Use	This method is always used in clinics where we have large samples to work on every day	Here we use it where the samples to work on are not many and for that reason, in places where not much illness is available, they result in Manuel.

Explain a real-life example with the concept of hematocrit. (2.5 points)

To answer this question, I will start by saying one of the major examples that I see always that is associated with hematocrit is anemia. As you know anemia is a sickness which is characterised by a person having a low red blood cell in their blood.

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A case scenario of a woman who was almost at age 50 noticed that her body was always becoming weaker by the day and she also felt sleepy all the time. Seeing such symptoms she rushed to her doctor who decided to run a test on her as the signs she mentioned were associated with anemia.

Her red blood cell level was immediately checked by the doctor and it was discovered that it had gone below the percentage required that she should have. Another form of test was also carried out on her to be certain that it was only anemia that was her issue.

To treat it, after all the confirmation by the doctor, the doctor immediately spotted all the deficiencies in her and noticed that she needed more iron in her system because the illness had made the transport of oxygen to the tissues more difficult than ever.

A supplement was given to her which contains iron and also recommendations on the type of food she should be taking were also given. The doctor monitored her for a while and the next checkup should be the efficiency of the supplement and the recommendation given.

It was also noticed that all the symptoms and signs such as weakness of the body, dizziness, and many others started showing immediately after she started following the instructions the doctor gave her. So that is the case scenario I saw about hematocrit.

Conclusion

Hemoglobin at first sight, what comes to our mind is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the body system i.e. the movement of oxygen from the lungs to the different body tissues in our body system. I want to finally invite a few friends who have not joined this contest to join and also share their participation. I call on @josepha, @waterjoe, and @ruthjoe to also join the contest.