Blood Diseases and Disorders

Blood Diseases and Disorders

There are dozens of blood diseases and disorders with the blood disorders affecting any of the three major components of the blood. These three components of the blood include red blood cells (carry oxygen to the body's tissues), white blood cells (fight infections), and platelets (assist blood to clot). Additionally, blood disorders can affect plasma, which is the liquid segment of the human blood. The diagnosis and treatment of blood diseases and disorders varies based on the blood situation and its severity. These diseases usually affect the production of blood and its components like hemoglobin, coagulation mechanisms, blood cells, and blood proteins. Blood disorders can be caused by imperfections in the blood vessels and abnormalities in the blood itself. Some of the major symptoms of blood disorders include ongoing bleeding and poor blood clotting.

Categories of Blood Diseases and Disorders:

As mentioned earlier, blood diseases and disorders are classified into several major categories which are & #8230;

Red Blood Cells Disorders:

These are blood diseases and conditions that affect red blood cells such as anemia, aplastic anemia, chronic disease anemia, sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, iron-deficiency anemia, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Anemia blood disorders are caused by excessive bleeding while iron-deficiency anemia conditions are results of low iron intake or blood loss due to menstruation. While the aplastic anemia is due to the inability of the bone marrow to produce enough blood cells, the autoimmune hemolytic anemia is caused by the destruction of red blood cells by an overactive immune system.

Notably, the aplastic anemia, which can be caused by an autoimmune condition, can be treated by blood transfusion or bone marrow transplant. Thalassemia is considered as a genetic form of anemia, which mainly affects people from the Mediterranean heritage. The other genetic form of anemia is sickle-cell anemia that tends to affect African-Americans in most cases resulting in severe pain. The chronic disease anemia is prevalent among people with recurring kidney diseases and other chronic illnesses. While this form of anemia does not always need treatment, synthetic hormone injection may be necessary in stimulating the production of blood cells. Generally, people suffering from anemic blood disorders have a lower number of red blood cells or inadequacy of hemoglobin in the cells (Thomas, 2009).

White Blood Cells Disorders:

This category of blood disorders and conditions affects blood segment that fights infections and include leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Blood cells disorders that affect the white blood cells always occur as a result of the presence of too many white blood cells or when the cells are few. Lymphoma is a form of blood cancer that occurs in an individual's lymph system making white blood cells to become malevolent while increasing and spreading abnormally. While leukemia also makes white blood cells to become malignant, they multiply in the bone marrow. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a form of blood cancer affecting the bone marrow, which can suddenly develop into leukemia. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that causes the plasma cell to become malignant and increase while releasing substances with the potential of causing organ damage. Other examples of white blood cells disorders include basophilic and eosinophilic conditions.

Platelets Blood Disorders:

These are also among the most commonly known blood-clotting disorders and include thrombocytopenia, herapin-induced thrombocytopenia, and essential thrombocytosis. Similar to thrombocytopenia, herapin-induced thrombocytopenia is not only caused by the presence of few platelets in the blood but also because of reactions against herapin. The essential trombocytosis occurs when the body produces many platelets that don't work properly because of an unknown reason resulting in excessive bleeding and clotting (Chang, 2010).

Plasma Cell Blood Disorders: