Blood Disorders

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Blood Disorders

Kimberley Siegenthaler

Axia College, HCA 240

January 9, 2011

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In a human body there are two important types of blood cells, each with their own jobs to complete to keep our body healthy. There are red blood cells that are responsible for transporting oxygen and other nutrients to parts of the body. As well as white blood cells that are there to defend our body, and tissues, white blood cells are responsible for our immune response. People of different ages, different ethnicities, and people in different parts of the world are all susceptible to different blood disorders that may cause serious illness and in some cases even death. Of these disorders we will be looking at Anemia, Sickle Cell disease, and Thrombocytopenia.

Scenario 1

This is the case of Amy, a 4 year old Caucasian female who complains of being tired. Amy is said to be pale in color, a picky eater, and consumes a limited diet of pasta, breads, hot dogs, and artificial fruit punch. It looks like Amy as a result has a case of Anemia. The symptoms of Anemia include pale skin color, tiredness, dizziness, headaches, and difficulty engaging in physical activities. These symptoms are due to the lack of oxygen supplied to the body’s tissues (Mulvihill et al., 2006). It would seem Amy is suffering from the Iron Deficiency type of Anemia. This disorder is one that occurs when the blood does not have enough healthy red blood cells to transport oxygen through the body. Though it is not the case for Amy, adolescent girls who do not have enough iron in...