Blood performs various essential functions as it circulates through the body. It delivers oxygen and essential nutrients (such as fats, sugars, minerals, and vitamins) to the body's tissues. It carries carbon dioxide to the lungs and other waste products to the kidneys for elimination from the body. It transports hormones (chemical messengers) to allow various parts of the body to communicate with each other. Also, it carries components that fight infection and stop bleeding.
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Blood Disorders
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Biology of Blood
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Symptoms and Diagnosis of Blood Disorders
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Anemia
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Bleeding Due to Abnormal Blood Vessels
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Bleeding Due to Clotting Disorders
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Blood Clotting Process
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Blood Transfusion
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Excessive Clotting
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Iron Overload
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Leukemias
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Lymphomas
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Myeloproliferative Disorders
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Plasma Cell Disorders
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Platelet Disorders
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Spleen Disorders
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White Blood Cell Disorders
Blood Disorders Sections (A-Z)
Anemia
Biology of Blood
Bleeding Due to Abnormal Blood Vessels
Bleeding Due to Clotting Disorders
Abnormal bleeding means that people bruise and bleed too easily (see also Bruising and Bleeding and How Blood Clots). Abnormal bleeding can result from disorders of
Blood Clotting Process
Blood Transfusion
Excessive Clotting
(See also How Blood Clots)
Iron Overload
Iron is essential for life, so the body usually tightly controls iron absorption from food and recycles the iron from red blood cells. People lose small amounts of iron every day, and even a healthy diet contains only a small amount of iron. Thus, people rarely have too much iron in their body. Causes of excess iron in the body (iron overload) include the following:
Leukemias
Lymphomas
Myeloproliferative Disorders
In myeloproliferative disorders (myelo = bone marrow, proliferative = rapid multiplication), the blood-producing cells in the bone marrow (precursor cells, also called stem cells) develop and reproduce excessively or are crowded out by an overgrowth of fibrous tissue. Typically, these disorders are acquired and not inherited, although rarely there are families in which several members have these disorders.
Plasma Cell Disorders
Plasma cell disorders are uncommon. They begin when a single plasma cell multiplies excessively. The resulting group of genetically identical cells (called a clone) produces a large quantity of a single type of antibody (immunoglobulin). Plasma cells develop from B cells (B lymphocytes), a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. These proteins help the body fight infection.
Platelet Disorders
Platelets (sometimes called thrombocytes) are cell fragments that circulate in the bloodstream and help blood clot. Thrombopoietin, primarily produced in the liver, stimulates the bone marrow to make large cells (megakaryocytes), which in turn make platelets from their cytoplasm. Platelets that are not used in clots circulate for 7 to 10 days and are then destroyed. About one third are always stored in the spleen.
Spleen Disorders
The spleen, a spongy, soft organ about as big as a person’s fist, is located in the upper left part of the abdomen, just under the rib cage. The splenic artery brings blood to the spleen from the heart. Blood leaves the spleen through the splenic vein, which drains into a larger vein (the portal vein) that carries the blood to the liver. The spleen has a covering of fibrous tissue (the splenic capsule) that supports its blood vessels and lymphatic vessels.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Blood Disorders
White Blood Cell Disorders
White blood cells (leukocytes) are an important part of the body’s defense against infectious organisms and foreign substances (the immune system). To defend the body adequately, a sufficient number of white blood cells must receive a message that an infectious organism or foreign substance has invaded the body, get to where they are needed, and then kill and digest the harmful organism or substance (see Figure: Lymphatic System: Helping Defend Against Infection).
Also of Interest
Test your knowledge
Secondary iron overload occurs when iron accumulates in the body because people take too many iron supplements, receive a large number of blood transfusions, or have a disorder in which they cannot form red blood cells efficiently. Among several causes of secondary iron overload, which one is under a person's direct control?
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