BLOOD DISORDERS
HEMATOLOGY
Study of
blood in
health and
disease
HEMATOLOGISTS STUDY:
HEMATOLOGISTS STUDY:
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Bone marrow
Lymph nodes
Spleen
Hemostasis
Thrombosis
RED BLOOD CELLS
HEMOGLOBIN + OXYGEN (FROM LUNGS)
TRAVELS TO TISSUES THROUGHOUT THE BODY
The Role of Red Blood Cells in Anemia
ANEMIA
MOST COMMON BLOOD DISORDER
AFFECTS > 3,000,000 AMERICANS
HEMOGLOBIN
< 13.5 gm/dl (M)
< 12.0 gm/dl (F)
SYMPTOMS OF ANEMIA:
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Weakness
Shortness of breath
Fast/irregular heartbeat
Pounding or “whooshing” in the
ears
Headache
Cold hands/feet
Pale/yellow skin
Chest pain
RISK FACTORS
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Poor diet
Intestinal disorders
Chronic diseases
Infections
Menstruation
Pregnancy
Age
Vigorous athletic activity
RISK FACTORS
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Rheumatoid arthritis
Kidney disease
Cancer
Infections
Liver disease
Thyroid disease
IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA
• Iron deficiency is very common
• Women
• People who have a diet that is low in
iron
• Vegans/vegetarians
• Children who drink >16-24 oz./day
of cow’s milk
IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA
• Iron deficiency is very common
• Women
• People who have a diet that is low in
iron
• Vegans/vegetarians
• Children who drink >16-24 oz./day
of cow’s milk
SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
• Inherited blood disorder that causes
the production of abnormal
hemoglobin
• RBCs are rigid and “C” shaped
• get stuck and block blood flow 
pain/infections
COMPLICATIONS OF SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
• Result of blocked blood flow to
specific organs
• Stroke
• Acute chest syndrome (condition
that lowers O2 in the blood)
• Organ damage
• Other disabilities
• Premature death
The Problem With Sickled Cells
RISK FACTORS
• Sickle cell anemia is more common in
certain ethnic groups, including:
• People of African descent,
including African-Americans
(among whom 1 in 12 carries a
sickle cell gene)
• Hispanic–Americans from Central
and South America
• People of Middle Eastern, Asian,
Indian, and Mediterranean descent
BLEEDING DISORDERS
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Blood cannot clot properly
Deficiency in clotting proteins
Hemophilia
Von Willebrand Disease
SYMPTOMS OF BLEEDING DISORDERS
• Easy bruising
• Bleeding gums
• Heavy bleeding from small cuts or
dental work
• Unexplained nosebleeds
• Heavy menstrual bleeding
HEMOPHILIA
• Rare, typically inherited, bleeding
disorder
• Ranges from mild to severe,
depending on how much clotting
factor is present
• Type A or Type B
• based on which type of clotting
factor is lacking
• Results from a genetic defect found
on the X chromosome
RISKS
• Any cut or injury can lead to excessive
bleeding
• Internal bleeding that can damage
joints, organs, and tissues over time
TREATMENT
• Past: transfusions of factor VIII obtained
from donor blood
• early 1980s – these products were
discovered to be transmitting bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis and
HIV
• Now – pure & safe
• Improved screening techniques
• Synthetic blood factors made in the
laboratory by cloning the genes
responsible for specific clotting factors
BLOOD CANCERS
• Affect the production and function of
blood cells
• Usually start in bone marrow where
blood is produced
BLOOD CANCERS
• Normal blood cell development
process is interrupted by uncontrolled
growth of abnormal type of blood cell
• Cancerous cells prevent blood from
performing many of its functions
• fighting off infections
• preventing serious bleeding
BLOOD CANCERS
Cancer Cells vs. Healthy Cells
LEUKEMIA
• Found in your blood and bone
marrow
• Caused by rapid production of
abnormal WBCs
• not able to fight infection
• impair ability of bone marrow to
produce red blood cells and
platelets
LYMPHOMA
• Affects lymphatic system
• removes excess fluids from your body
• produces immune cells
• Lymphocytes (T-cells & B-cells) fight
infection
• abnormal lymphocytes become
lymphoma cells
• multiply and collect in your lymph nodes
and other tissues
• impair immune system
MYELOMA
• Targets plasma cells
• white blood cells that produce diseaseand infection-fighting antibodies in the
body
• Myeloma cells prevent normal production of
antibodies
• body’s immune system weakened and
susceptible to infection
MALARIA
• Infectious disease of humans and other
animals caused by parasitic protozoans of
the genus Plasmodium
• Disease is transmitted via a bite from an
infected female Anopheles mosquito
• Protists travel to liver to mature and
reproduce
MALARIA
• Symptoms typically include fever and headache (can
progress to coma or death)
• Widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a
broad band around the equator
• Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be
transmitted by humans
• P. falciparum and P. vivax: vast majority of deaths
• P. ovale, and P. malariae cause a generally milder
form of malaria that is rarely fatal
MALARIA
• 2 phases
• liver (exoerythrocytic phase)
• infected mosquito pierces a
person's skin
• sporozoites in the mosquito's
saliva enter bloodstream
• migrate to the liver where they
infect hepatocytes
• multiply asexually and
asymptomatically for 8–30 days
MALARIA
• Erythrocytes (erythrocytic phase)
• escape (undetected) from liver to
blood
• infect RBCs
• multiply further (asexually)
• periodically break out of host cells
to invade fresh RBCs
MALARIA
• Several such cycles occur
• Classical descriptions of waves of
fever arise from simultaneous waves
of merozoites escaping and infecting
RBCs
MALARIA