Red+Blood+Cells+-+MD

=Introduction=

Imagine living only 120 days. During that time, you’ll travel over 300 miles and go through the heart 170,000 times! This is exactly what a red blood cell does in your body. The red blood cell is important to the human body. media type="youtube" key="PgI80Ue-AMo" width="420" height="315"H ere's a video. If you click it, it will lead you to YouTube and show and tell you about red blood cells and how they circulate through the human body. toc =Function of Red Blood Cells= The function of a red blood cell is that it picks up **oxygen** in the lungs and delivers it to other cells in the body. It also takes away **carbon dioxide** from body cells. Blood carries oxygen to all tissues in your body. Red blood cells are FULL of oxygen. They even carry rich blood in the body. According to a part of the book Pump It Up, red blood cells take away carbon dioxide from our cells. When this happens, our blood becomes darkish reddish blue/purple.



=Structures of a Red Blood Cell?=

Red blood cells are cell membranes filled with hemoglobin. This is an iron containing protein. A red blood cell is shaped like a disk and has a dip on both sides. This helps the cell have a rapid gas exchange. Red blood cells are produced in **bone marrow**. They have no nucleus, so they can’t repair or replace themselves. They live about 120 days in your body. There are 25 trillion red blood cells in your body. They might be very simple cells compared to our body, but the red blood cells are the most. Bone marrow is the cavities of our bones, and the red blood cells are produced there.

=Sickle Cell Anemia=

Symptoms of red blood cell disorders are: being tired; shortness of breath; trouble concentrating; muscle weakness; and fast heartbeat.

For example, anemia is a lack of iron in the blood. Sickle cell anemia is an abnormally shaped blood cell. It doesn’t carry as much oxygen as normal, and will get stuck in your blood vessels.



=Conclusion= Without red blood cells, your body cannot work. Healthy blood protects you from germs and diseases all around you. Red blood cells are specially designed to do there job. Mother nature really knew what she was doing.



=References=