Description
Disorders of Red Blood Cells
Henry is 77 years old and lives with his daughter and son-in-law. He has chronic renal failure, but likes to get out whenever he can to work in his daughter’s backyard garden. Over the last few months, he began to go outside less often. He said he was feeling unusually tired and he was running out of breath doing the simplest of tasks. He also said his head ached and he often felt dizzy. His daughter took him to his doctor who performed a complete physical examination and diagnosed Henry with anemia.
- From what you know of Henry’s history, what type of anemia do you suspect he has? How would Henry’s red blood cells appear on a peripheral blood smear?
- What is the physiological basis that would explain why Henry’s anemia would cause him to have the symptoms he is experiencing?
- Predict the cellular adaptations erythrocytes undergo when chronic hypoxia is present. How would this be evident on an oxygen–hemoglobin dissociation curve?
- Make sure all of the topics in the case study have been addressed.
- Cite at least three sources—journal articles, textbooks, or evidenced-based websites—to support the content.
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Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: DISORDERS OF RED BLOOD CELLS
Disorders of Red Blood Cells
Student’s Name
Institution
Year
1
DISORDERS OF RED BLOOD CELLS
2
1. From what you know of Henry’s history, what type of anemia do you suspect he
has? How would Henry’s red blood cells appear on a peripheral blood smear?
There are various types of anemia which affect individuals as a result of the presence of
few healthy red blood cells which can supply adequate oxygen in the body. However, from
Henry's history, the most likely types of anemia that he may be suffering from is sickle-cell
anemia. Renal failure is commonly associated with the failure of enough blood being supplied
into the kidneys which results from sickle cell anemia making the kidneys to fail in filtering
waste from the blood since they are not well supplied with oxygen. Therefore, since Henry is
experiencing renal failure sickle cell anemia is the best explanation for his condition since his
kidneys don’t get enough supply of oxygen due to few healthy red blood cells (Merlin et al.,
2019). Besides this, renal failure leads to fewer production of red blood cells since the blood has
waste and thus inhibits the production of red blood cells.
When a peripheral body smear is conducted Henry's red blood cells appear to be crescentshaped. Normal red blood cells are biconcave in shape with a flattened center. However, when
Henry's red blood cells are observed af...
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