Blood Composition and Diseases

Blood Diseases

Complete the following lesson by reading through each slide and answering the questions that follow.​

Sickle Cell Aniema

​A condition in which the blood cell has lost its characteristic round shape and is oblong or sickle shaped. A crisis occurs when the cells clot in the veins and blood does not flow. It may cause pain in the joints, infections, and heart failure. It occurs in 0.06 % of the population usually African Americans.

Multiple Choice

Sickle red blood cells have a decreased ability to carry

• nutrients

• oxygen

• waste

• proteins

Multiple Choice

When looking at the cells of individuals with sickle cell anemia, what do you expect to see?

• C-shaped red blood cells

• Smaller red blood cells

• Increased number of platlets

• Decreased production of red blood cells

Iron Deficiency Anemia

​

​Is caused by an insufficient supply of iron to produce the red blood cells. Without enough iron, your body can't produce enough of a substance in RBC that enables them to carry oxygen (hemoglobin). As a result, iron deficiency anemia may leave you tired or short of breath. The malformed blood cells are pale and thin compared to normal RBC.

Multiple Choice

Which slide is a blood smear of iron deficiency anemia?

• Right

• Left

Multiple Choice

What component of the RBC needs iron?

• hemoglobin

• cell membrane

• erythocytes

• renoglobin

Polycythemia

​An excessive or abnormal increase in the number of erythrocytes (aka red blood cells) – may result from bone marrow cancer or a normal physiological response to living at high altitudes where air is thinner and therefore less oxygen is available – excessive RBCs increases blood viscosity causing it to flow sluggishly in the body and impairs circulation.

Open Ended

What is polycythemia?

Multiple Select

What can cause polycythemia?

• Bone marrow cancer

• Poor diet

• altitude change

• Liver cancer