Blood Cells
Firstly What is White Blood Cell you might ask ?
A whole of lot people would have heard about white blood cells but this post talks deeply about them
White Blood Cells (Leukocytes)
These are cells of the immune system that help protect the body against diseases and infections. They are the major defence mechanism of the human body.
CHARACTERISTICS
They are colorless and nucleated in nature.
Larger in size than the Red blood cells.
Irregularly shaped cells.
Lesser in number than the Red Blood Cells in the human body.
Life span is not constant. Their life span is always determined by the human body's demand which can range from half a day to 6months.
TYPES
White blood cells can be classified based on appearance of granules in their cytoplasm.
- Granulocytes (with granules)
- Agranulocytes(without granules)
GRANULOCYTES
These are white blood cells that have granules present in their cytoplasm. They are further subdivided into three ;
NEUTROPHILS
These cells are polymorphic Granulocytes having fine and small granules present in their cytoplasm. They are matured white blood cells and ameboid in nature. About 62% in the human blood circulatory system. They phagocytize bacteria and invading organisms using their pseudopodia structure, attaching to the invading organism. They can phagocytize about 3-20 bacteria.
BASILOPHILS
These are cells that contain coarse granules in their cytoplasm. They are least common Granulocytes in the human body and are about 1% in the human body but largest in size.. They are responsible for inflammatory reactions in the body.during immune response.They also can undergo phagocytosis like the neutrophils and produce heparin for blood clotting. They stain purple blue with methylene blue.
EOSINOPHILS
They also contain coarse granules but larger in their cytoplasm. They control allergic reactions in the human body. They are "acid-loving" due to their large acidophilic cytoplasmic granules. They stain pink in eosin. They are about 2-3% in the human circulatory system.
AGRANULOCYTES
These cells do not contain granules in their cytoplasm. They are subdivided into;
MONOCYTES
They are the largest white blood cells which have their cytoplasm clear due to lack of granules present in them. They are about 5.3% in the blood circulatory system and have their nucleus oval or round shaped. They are immature at this stage, they develop into large macrophages. Their matured Macrophages are capable of phagocytizing about 100 bacteria organism. They are much more powerful than the neutrophils.
Lymphocytes
Lymphocytes can be T-lymphocytes (cellular immunity) or B-lymphocytes (humoral immunity). They aslo lack granules in their cytoplasm and are oval shaped. They are 30% in the blood circulatory system and have a life span of weeks to months. They produce antibodies which fight against invading organisms.
Fun Facts
White blood cells have a life span of 4-5 days , while some can live for weeks to months
White blood cells are responsible for Organ and blood rejection during organ transplant and blood transfusion
White blood cells are produced more than red blood cells in the body
Uncontrollable proliferation of white blood cells leads to what we call Leukemia (which is cancerous).
Reduction in White blood cell leads to Leukopenia.
Not only do we have White blood cells, we also have red blood cells which are equally important in our daily life.
What is Red Blood Cell ?
Red Blood Cell (Erythrocytes)
These are cells that help transport hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to tissues of the body and takes away carbon dioxide from the tissues.
CHARACTERISTICS
It has a biconcave shape, depressed at the center and thickened at the edges.
Contains hemoglobin pigment.
Life span of is about 120 days.
Erythropoietin is a stimulator for the production of RBC.
They are about 5million in number per millimeter.
Anemia
This is the deficiency of hemoglobin, red blood cells count and packed cell volume, which may be caused by either too few leukocytes or too little hemoglobin in the cells or hemorrhage or genetic disorder.
TYPES
Blood Loss or Hemorrhage
This is caused due to chronic blood loss which leads to the inability of the gastrointestinal system to absorb iron. The gastrointestinal system of human can only absorb iron at a very low rate. Iron is the chief element for the production of hemoglobin. With little hemoglobin in the red blood cell, it becomes smaller than normal and leads to hypochromic anemia.
APLASTIC ANEMIA
This is cause due to lack of a functioning bone marrow which is due to exposure to high-dose of radiation, cancer chemotherapy or certain toxic chemical substance can damage the stem cells of the bone marrow. Individuals with this kind of anemia often die unless blood transfusion process or bone marrow transplantation occurs.
Megaloblastic Anemia
This anemia is caused due to deficiency of Vitamin B12 and/or Folic acid. The red blood cells become large and irregular and are fragile in nature.
Sickel Cell Anemia
This anemia is a genetic disorder that affects one of the globin chains in hemoglobin. It occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes from respective parent. The molecules of hemoglobin S polymerize into long chains and precipitate inside the cells,thus attain sickle (crescent) shape and become more fragile leading to hemolysis.
Erythroblastosis fetalis
This kind of anemia usually occur due to the Rh factor. When the father is Rh + and the mother is Rh - , there are usually complications on the second child and subsequent children as per the first children are usually escape the effect. Its a serious case of anemia whereby the mother produces antibody that attack the RBC (red blood cells of the foetus).
FUN FACTS
Red blood cells are the reason why your blood is red due to their hemoglobin content.
They are responsbile for the blood grouping of humans.
A very fun article to read. Great explanation on the histological features of both WBC and RBC :)
Thanks boss
Tried to make it as entertaining as possible
Love this post! Explains everything in terms normal people can understand. Everyone really should read this, then the next time you have any blood work done, look closely at the conclusions drawn from your numbers. Usually, if anything is off, below your numbers you'll see the opinions and explanations, which, unless you work as a health care professional, you will not understand most terms that they use. So, you will be looking at your results not knowing if it's deadly serious or something that just could be average for your body. It took me an entire day to look up what terms they used describing my blood work, when I was first diagnosed with my cancer. Now, I'm fairly familiar with the terms and don't need to look up each one.
I wish this post was written a few years ago, it would have saved me a lot of time and aggrevation! But, I will still be saving this post as a future reference; it's very precisely written, all in one place, and covers many different medical references. I would advise everyone to do the same, you never know what the future holds for you, and I like to know what my test results mean. Doctors tend to leave out quite a bit, from my personal experiences.
@bcrafts, I bet you never expected a response like this. It hit home and I really appreciate the time you took to gather all the information in one place, thank you. I hope people will read it, then learn from my story and experiences, then start becoming more aware of their own medical treatment. I was absolutely stunned when I first read mine and found out what all the terms meant; my doctors never mentioned 90% to me, until I took charge and started asking.