Red blood cells are circular cells present in the blood that live in the body for 120 days and, in addition, are formed from hemoglobin and globulin . The hemoglobin , a red iron – containing protein, the major intracellular protein is considered the red blood cells, and its function is to transport oxygen in the blood. On the other hand, globulin is one of the proteins present in blood plasma, together with albumin and fibrinogen and its functions are basically the transport and coagulation of blood.
Red blood cells are also known by the terms ” red blood cells ” or ” erythrocytes ” and their main function is the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. The amount of red blood cells present in the blood of each human being is variable, for example, regarding sex: in adult women there are approximately 4.8 million red blood cells per cubic millimeter, while in adult men there are approximately 5.5 million per cubic millimeter.
Red blood cell production
Called erythropoiesis , the process of producing erythrocytes or erythrocytes occurs in the red bone marrow. In this process, initiated by a mother cell that generates four cells, DNA and hemoglobin are synthesized , mitoses and iron absorption. Thus, in the three-day period, mature anucleated red blood cells, that is, without nucleus, will originate. Since then, these new red blood cells or red blood cells will act as energy reserves responsible for the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide and will live in the body for 120 days.
Diseases
Many diseases are associated with red blood cells, for example, anemia . Thus, ” Microcytosis” corresponds to the reduction in the size of erythrocytes and is closely related to iron deficiency, sideroblastic anemias and thalassemia. On the other hand, the so-called ” Macrocytosis” , that is, the increase in the size of red blood cells is related yourself with vitamin B12 deficiency, hypothyroidism, aplastic anemia and liver disease.
The anemia is a disease characterized by a decrease of red blood cells in the blood and hence the difficulty in transporting oxygen. Some types of anemias are: sickle cell anemia, ferropenic anemia, hemolytic anemia, pernicious anemia, aplastic anemia, spherocytosis, erythrocytosis and thalassemia.