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An anemia is normocytic when the red blood cells (RBCs) are of normal size. RBCs are normocytic when the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is between 80 and 100 femtolitres (fL), which is within the normal and expected range. However, the hematocrit and hemoglobin are decreased. [1]
Carbonic anhydrase catalyzes the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into carbonic acid. This molecule breaks down into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. This break down process occurs in red blood cells. Ultimately, the concentration of bicarbonate ions in the bloodstream affects the formation of the protein carbaminohemoglobin in the body. [11]
Bicarbonate in the red blood cell (RBC) exchanging with chloride from plasma in the lungs. The underlying properties creating the chloride shift are the presence of carbonic anhydrase within the RBCs but not the plasma, and the permeability of the RBC membrane to carbon dioxide and bicarbonate ion but not to hydrogen ion.
In a healthy person, a red blood cell survives 90 to 120 days in the circulation, so about 1% of human red blood cells break down each day. [ 38 ] [ unreliable medical source? ] The spleen (part of the reticulo-endothelial system ) is the main organ that removes old and damaged RBCs from the circulation. [ 2 ]
The average red blood cell contains 250 million hemoglobin molecules. [7] Hemoglobin contains a globin protein unit with four prosthetic heme groups (hence the name heme-o-globin); each heme is capable of reversibly binding with one gaseous molecule (oxygen, carbon monoxide, cyanide, etc.), [8] therefore a typical red blood cell may carry up to one billion gas molecules.
The hematocrit (/ h ɪ ˈ m æ t ə k r ɪ t /) (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, [1] [2] measured as part of a blood test. [3] The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. [3] It is normally 40.7–50.3% for males and 36.1–44.3% for ...
Blood in stool looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically originating from upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or to hematochezia, with a red color, typically originating from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. [6]
Red blood cells (RBCs), referred to as erythrocytes (from Ancient Greek erythros 'red' and kytos 'hollow vessel', with -cyte translated as 'cell' in modern usage) in academia and medical publishing, also known as red cells, [1] erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate's principal means of delivering oxygen (O 2) to the body tissues—via ...