Sara Lively walked briskly down the street, taking in the buzz of activity in the stores that lined the path. Today, she was to meet an important client today and she felt it deep in her bones that she was going to close this deal, which will make it her firm’s biggest deal so far. Plugging in the earphones, she scrolled through her music library with enthusiasm looking for a song that will reflect her bright mood. After much deliberation, she finally settled for Judikay’s Capable God.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy and started seeing dark spots from the corner of her eyes, she couldn’t fathom what was happening to her. Chiding herself, she said “Calm down Sara. This can’t be happening right now, the whole organization is depending on me to close this deal and if I don’t, we may lose our jobs.” Struggling desperately to get a grip on herself, she started panting for air as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Waking up to the sound of machines and fluid running through her veins in a precise manner, Sara watched weakly as her husband talked to a huge man with a white coat who apparently was a physician. She just couldn’t imagine that she of all people would be admitted and her life would be dependent on beeping machines but she knew deep down this was not a sudden illness because she had been warned that being a sickle cell patient, she needed to take extra care of her body. Turning her head to the side with tears gathering she whimpered, “Why does my blood affect my health so much?”
WHAT IS BLOOD?
BLOOD is tissue and it has a metallic taste. It is made up of two-component. The cellular component and the plasma component. The cellular component accounts for 40 – 45% of the blood and the plasma component account for 55% of the blood.
Cellular Component
Erythrocytes: Also known as Red Blood Cells, contains hemoglobin which is responsible for carrying oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. The average life span is 120 days.
Leukocytes: Also known as White Blood Cells, it plays the role of a fighter in our body system. It recognizes an invading object as foreign and attacks them, it plays a role in eating up debris and is an important part of the healing process after sustaining an injury. Types Of White Blood Cells Includes-Lymphocytes, Neutrophils, Eosinophils, Basophills, Monocytes.
Thrombocytes: Also known as Platelets, they play a role by adhering to the site of an injury to form what is known as “PLATELET PLUG”. This plug will trigger the activation of clotting factors which will start the process of clotting by forming a fibrin mesh.
Plasma: This is the liquid portion of the blood, it consists of about 90% of water with the remainder being a combination of clotting factors, nutrients, waste products and electrolytes.
Facts About Blood
- Accounts for 7-10% of our body weight
- Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow
- There are about 5-6 litres of blood in the human body.
- The bone marrow produces about 175 billion erythrocytes, 70 billion mature white blood cells and 175 billion thrombolytic each day.
BLOOD TYPES
There are different types of blood and this is dependent on the presence of antigen on the surface of the red blood cells.
Blood types are also known as blood group and the four blood types are defined by the ABO system.
A – Antigen A on the red blood cells with anti B antibodies in the plasma.
B – Antigen B on the red blood cells with anti A antibodies in the plasma.
O – no antigen, anti A and anti B antibodies in the plasma
AB – antigen A and B on the red blood cells, no antibodies.
The Rhesus System
This is another form of classification, if a protein known as RhD is present, it means the person is rhesus positive and if absent, the person is rheaus negative.
A+ ( rhesus positive)
A- ( rhesus negative)
O+
O-
AB+
AB-
B+
B-
Disorders Of The Blood
Common blood disorders include;
- Anemia – Reduction in the quality and quantity of red blood cells
- Hemophilia – A bleeding disorder characterized by lack of clotting factor 8 and 9
- Leukemia – rapid growth of white blood cells.
- Sickle Cell Anemia – Chronic hemolytic anaemia where the red blood cell shape is sickled.
- Myeloma – Plasma Cells Cancer.
Why Should You Know Your Blood?
- Helps to prevent the risk of blood transfusion error ( Note a person with A blood group can’t receive blood from a person with B – blood group).
- Helps a woman learn how to plan her pregnancy. ( This prevent the risk of rhesus incompatibility)
The Hematologic System which consist of the blood and the site of blood production is very essential to our existence as human. Remember the woman with the issue of blood? She knew what it meant to be plagued with a disease of the blood that she went the extra mile to touch the Lord’s garment despite all the barriers that surrounded her.
Are you suffering from any blood related issue, continue to seek the face of the Lord and he will heal you.
Remember, while you are claiming the promises of God also take steps in engaging in practice that will build a healthy lifestyle like.
- Eat Fruits
- Adequate water intake.
- Eat balanced diet
- Exercise.
- Quit Smoking
- Quit Alcohol.
