Iron is a mineral vital for performing various functions in the human body. Its most important function is that it is one of the components of hemoglobin, the protein present in red blood cells that helps the blood to carry oxygen throughout the body. Therefore, it becomes essential to know about dietary iron, our main […]
Hematology
Iron Deficiency Anemia: Causes, Lab Diagnosis and Treatment
Iron deficiency anemia is a type of anemia which occurs when the body does not have enough iron to produce the hemoglobin it needs. Functions and Metabolism of Iron Iron is present in all cells in the human body. It performs several vital functions including: Carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs in the […]
Myelophthisic Anemia: Causes, Features, Lab diagnosis and Treatment
Myelophthisic anemia is a type of anemia that is caused due to the replacement of normal bone marrow by nonhematopoietic or abnormal cells. These abnormal cells ( which could be either cancer cells, granulomas or fibrosis) result in disturbed hematopoiesis due to the following reasons: By physically replacing the native marrow cells By disturbing the […]
Macrocytic Anemia: Types, Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Macrocytic anemia is a type of anemia in which the red blood cells are larger than their normal volume. The term ‘macrocytic’ is a Greek word meaning ‘large cell’. Macrocytic anemia comes under the morphological classification of anemia; in which anemia is classified according to the size of red blood cells. The size is reflected in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV). […]
Pernicious Anemia: Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Pernicious anemia is a type of megaloblastic anemia that occurs when a person’s body is unable to absorb vitamin B12 from their gastrointestinal tract. This results in vitamin B12 deficiency and produces morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. It is also known as Biermer’s anemia, Addison’s anemia, or Addison-Biermer […]
Megaloblastic Anemia – Causes, Pathophysiology, Investigations and Treatment
Megaloblastic anemia is a type of anemia which is characterized by morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. Causes of Megaloblastic Anemia Megaloblastic anemia has several different causes – deficiencies of either cobalamin (vitamin B12) or folate (vitamin B 9) are the two most common causes. These vitamins play an […]
Bone marrow – Structure, Composition and Functions
Bone marrow is soft, spongy, gelatinous tissue that fills the centers of bones known as medullary cavities. Bone marrow is highly vascular meaning that it is enriched with blood vessels and capillaries. Each day bone marrow produces hundreds of billions of new blood cells. Bone marrow takes over from the liver as the major hematopoietic organ […]
Aplastic Anemia – Classification, Treatment and Prognosis
Aplastic anemia is a rare hematological (blood) disorder in which the bone marrow is damaged resulting in failure to produce all the three major types of blood cells. Bone marrow is a sponge-like tissue inside the bones that makes stem cells which develop into red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets. It is also called hypoplastic anemia. The fundamental […]
Venous Blood Sampling
Venous blood sampling is a diagnostic procedure in which a needle is inserted into a particular vein and a sample of blood is collected for laboratory analysis. Venous blood is deoxygenated blood that flows from tiny capillary blood vessels within the tissues into progressively larger veins to the right side of the heart. Most of […]
What is a Capillary Blood Sample
A capillary blood sample is collected by pricking the skin. Capillaries are small vessels formed by branching of arterioles. Blood flows from the heart to arteries, which divide into arterioles, and then further divide into capillaries. After the tissue has been perfused, capillaries then unite to become venules and then widen more to become veins, […]