What are red blood cells and why are they important?
Red blood cells are by far the most numerous cells in blood, and give blood its red color. They are responsible for carrying oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body. They can do this because of a special protein called hemoglobin that is present in each red cell. Hemoglobin has a strong affinity for oxygen, and oxygen binds to hemoglobin in the red blood cells as blood passes through the lung. The blood is then pumped through the body, where oxygen separates from the hemoglobin, leaves the red blood cells and enters the tissues. Since red blood cells and hemoglobin are essential to deliver oxygen, deficiencies or abnormalities in the red cells usually result in tissue stress or damage What does the CBC tell us about red blood cells? a) Numbers: The most important thing the CBC tells us is how many red cells there are in the blood and how much hemoglobin are they carrying. Three different measurements are taken, and reported as: Red Blood Cell count (RBC), Hematocrit (HCT), and
