Abstract – Blood truths and myths

Blood is essential for maintaining the health and life of the human being. Therefore,
it has many functions, which are: - transporting oxygen, CO2, nutrients, hormones, heat and
wastes; - helps regulate the pH of the body by interacting with acids and bases and also
regulates the water balance by transferring water to and from tissues; - Protects against
diseases through phagocytic white blood cells and antibodies and against blood loss through
clotting.

The main constituents of the blood are: the plasma which occupies about 55% of the
blood and it is 92% constituted by water and 7% by proteins; the red blood cells, or
erythrocytes are the most abundant in the blood and give it its bright red color, Red cells
contain a special protein called hemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen from the lungs to the
rest of the body;- the white blood cells or leukocytes protect the body from infections. They
are much fewer in number than red blood cells, accounting for about 1 percent of your
blood; - the last ones are the platelets that help the blood clotting process (or coagulation)
by gathering at the site of an injury, sticking to the lining of the injured blood vessel.

There are some problems related to the blood caused by the deficit or excess of
these elements. The lack of red blood cells can lead to anemia and the excess can to
Polycythemia vera, a fatal decease if not diagnosed and treated. In the white blood cells the
excess of them can cause leukocytosis which can also be caused by leukemia, on the
contrary the lack of white blood cells can lead to leukopenia. The excess of platelets can
lead to thrombocytopenia and the lack of platelets, thrombocythemia.

The decease that we chose to talk about is the venous and arterial thrombosis.
Venous thrombosis is characterized by the presence of a large clot attached to the inner wall
of a vein (thrombus). The clot can break free and cause an embolism in an organ such as the
lungs or brain. The symptoms are pain, felling of heaviness and swelling of the limb and it
has some complications like pulmonary embolism and venous gangrene, which can lead to
limb amputation. To prevent this situation there are some simple things we can do like:
Exercise the muscles, get up and walk at least every half hour; take anticoagulant
medications and wear compression stockings (if prescribed).