Erythrocytes in the blood are lowered: possible causes

Erythrocytes are non-nuclear cells of blood,which are formed in the bone marrow. They are designed to provide tissues, organs and all body cells with oxygen. They also perform a transport function, removing carbon dioxide from them.

Normal performance

To determine that you have red blood cells in your bloodlowered, it is necessary to know what their level is considered adequate. Thus, the content of these blood cells depends on the age of the patient and on his sex. In healthy women, the number of red blood cells should be at the level of 3.7-4.7 x 10¹² in every liter of blood. In men, there may be several more - from 4 to 5.5 x 10¹²/ l.

For children, slightly different indicators will be considered normal. So, at the age of 1 to 12 years they should be from 3.5 to 5.2 x 10¹²/ l. And in the first month of life they can be from 3.8 to 5.6 x 10¹²/ l.

At the same time, the high content of red blood cells inblood of newborn babies is quite understandable. When they are in the womb, they need more of them to provide all the cells with oxygen. They begin to disintegrate only after birth.

Main functions

The main purpose of red blood cells is the delivery of oxygen and the return transport of carbon dioxide. It becomes clear how dangerous the situation is, the red blood cells in the blood are low.

But in addition to carrying out the transport function they havethere is another purpose. They nourish and protect all tissues of the human body, and also maintain acid-base blood levels. They are able to transfer amino acids from the digestive organs directly to the tissue. The protective function is expressed in the ability to participate in immune responses and adsorb on its surface antigens and toxins.

Increase in the number of blood cells

Many people mistakenly believe that only a reduced red blood cell count is dangerous. This is not quite true. It is fraught with serious problems both decrease and increase in their concentration in the bloodstream.

Elevated levels of these cells are callederythrocytosis. It is worth noting that this situation is extremely rare. It can indicate a pathology of the lungs, the heart, if the increase in their number has arisen because of excessive synthesis in the kidneys of the hormone erythropoietin. Also, erythrocytosis can occur due to blood diseases, for example, erythremia. It is characterized by excessive formation of red blood cells. But do not panic immediately, as soon as their increased content was found. This may simply indicate dehydration, excessive physical exertion or frequent stress.

Reducing the concentration of red cells

Much more often doctors diagnose lowerednumber of erythrocytes in the blood. In most cases, this indicates anemia. It can begin because of the disruption of the formation of these cells in the red bone marrow. Also, the reasons for its development can be the following:

• large blood loss;
• excessive destruction of erythrocytes;
• lack of iron.

All the reasons are serious enough and requirecorrection of nutrition and drug treatment. After all, regardless of why the erythrocytes in the blood are lowered, this leads to a deterioration in the state of the body, as its tissues and cells are worse supplied with oxygen.

Iron-deficiency anemia

To understand how to treat diseases,It is necessary to find out what caused the decrease in the number of red blood cells. Often iron deficiency in the body leads to the fact that the lowered erythrocytes in the blood are diagnosed. The causes of this condition lie in the inadequate formation of red cells. This is due to the lack of iron.

And this deficit can develop for two reasons:

1. Infringement of its or his intake or insufficient receipt in an organism.
2. Increased body requirement for this element.

At the initial stages of the disease, someSymptoms are absent, and the diagnosis can be established only on laboratory researches. For this, a blood test is performed. Erythrocytes are lowered, however, not only because of a lack of iron in the body. But if this is the reason, the level of hemoglobin will be low. In addition, changes will affect the appearance of red blood cells, they will be reduced, and the intensity of their color will be different.

Other causes of anemia

Despite the fact that most often problemsare detected precisely because of the lack of iron, there are other factors that influence the fact that low red blood cells are detected in the blood. The reasons also lie in the lack of vitamin B12, folic acid. In these situations, some violations are noted. Thus, gait disturbances or decreased sensitivity can be seen in patients.

Also, sometimes a decrease in concentrationerythrocytes because of hemolysis. This is a condition in which intense destruction of these red blood cells occurs. It can be both a hereditary pathology, and develop due to certain diseases. Among them, Markiafawa-Micheli's disease or hemoglobinopathy.

It can not be ruled out that the destruction of blood cellsis due to the toxic or mechanical destruction of their membranes. It is quite normal when the red blood cells in the blood are lowered after considerable blood loss.

There is another situation in which the levelthese red corpuscles can be low, but the body does not threaten anything. This is possible with excessive use of liquid. But such a decrease in the number of red blood cells will be only temporary and their number will quickly recover.