By PROFESSOR KASONDE
WHEN I was five years old I was pretty scared of the hospital.
They were two things that I found most frightening and these are needle pricks and blood.
So I told myself that I should never become a Doctor.
Second of all, I convinced myself that I would never get sick, or at least I should never admit to it.
I am sure they are many five-year-olds like me today. Many adults are scared of blood too; perhaps it’s the bright red colour that’s most frightening or just the fear that death is close that it may evoke this disquiet.
Perhaps you have wondered, as I did for many years ago why blood is red?
There is something about the colour red that just makes your heart race that little faster.
I trained with a medical student who would faint every time he saw a patient come in bleeding.
Eventually he admitted that his parents had just forced him to study medicine and he changed to pharmacy, where he was as far away from the emergency wards as possible.
Most animals have blood that has a red colour as well so it seems to be common across the animal species.
With all the fear and anxiety around blood, there are very few people who are willing to give it out (be blood donors) to those who may need it.
However so long as we have it in our system and it stays there, it is something we most of us take for granted.
In fact low blood levels or Anaemia is a very common problem in Zambia. Perhaps by knowing a little more about it, we may be a littleless frightened by blood.
1. What causes low blood levels or Anaemia?
First of all let me answer the two subsidiary questions? These are, where does blood come from? And why is blood red? The blood cells are initially produced from the Liver.
This is where the blood cell seeds are initially planted when the baby is developing in the womb.
The developing baby has a food basket called the yolk sac which carries food for the baby in the first few weeks of life. When the baby grows bigger this food basket gets exhausted.
Before this food basket finishes it plants its last seeds as blood cells in the liver.
This is very clever because the blood becomes an efficient means of carrying food and nutrients around the body.
From the liver these blood cells are planted in the bones of the body.
In particular the centre of the bone called the bone marrow. This becomes the centre from which blood cells germinate and are released into the body periodically, about every three months or so.
Why is blood red? There is basically one reason, which is that the blood cells carry a red pigment called hemoglobin.
This pigment is found in the blood cells which are found in the largest numbers in the body called the red blood cells. These are distinct from the white cells, which are essentially are like the army or defence force of the body which fight germs.
The red cells on the other hand carry food, in particular oxygen to all the body parts.
There red coloured hemoglobin is a special protein the captures and transports oxygen.
Perhaps you might ask, why hemoglobin was not green, or orange or any other colour. Perhaps it could have been, but it is possibly advantageous to have this vital pigment have a bright colour to attract attention, when it begins to leak outside the body.
Now to the main question; what causes low blood levels? They are mainly 3 causes of low blood volume or anaemia.
If we take the rather over used example of Zesco and answer the question why are power levels low? The answer will be;
1. Low production of power from the power stations
2. Excessive power usage, with increased population and mining activities
3. Leakages in loss of power in the process of distribution.
Taking very much similar reasoning, we will then say;
1 Low production of blood cells from the bone marrow(Aplastic Anaemia).
2. Excessive break down of blood cells, by the blood filter the spleen (Haemolytic anaemia).
3 Leakage or blood loss due to injury, heavy periods and parasites (hook worms) (Haemorrhage).
Some of the common cause for Anaemia in Zambia is in children.
Malaria, malnutrition, parasitic infections (like hookworms) and sickle cell anaemia (a hereditary disease of the blood cells where the misshaped red cells are destroyed by the spleen).
In women heavy or prolonged periods are a common cause of anaemia. In men lonstanding malaria, cancers and kidney disease are common causes.
2. How can I know if my blood levels are low?
When the blood levels of the blood pigment hemoglobin fall below 10g/dl this is defined as anaemia.
When this happens the body becomes short of oxygen. So the body becomes short of oxygen and if we are to keep the ZESCO illustration, then rationing of oxygen begins or load shedding begins.
The body needs oxygen in order to convert food to energy, which it uses for all the body processes.
So when the body becomes short of oxygen then you will begin to feel dizzy, weak, and breathless and your heart begins to beat fast. You are not able to do ordinary things, like cleaning the dishes without having to sit down and take a rest.
The body attempts to get more oxygen by the heart beating faster and the lungs breathing in more oxygen.
So one finds that they are always feeling as if they have been running, and they are constantly out of breath.
You will also notice that you loss your usual facial colour, if you look at the inside of your palms, and compare to those of your neighbour they look white. If you count your heart or pulse rate you will find that even when you are seated it is over 100 beats per minute.
You will always find you are reluctant to climb stairs, because you so easily get tired.
For children this is especially noticeable, because they will no longer want to play with their friends.
Even when they go out to play the only sit and watch their friends, or come back early from play.
You should be especially weary of people who are tending too sleep for too long.
Someone who sleeps most of the time, during the day and during the night may have anaemia. You might also notice a friend who gets breathless, when they talk too much or too fast.
3. What can I do to keep my blood levels normal?
The bone marrow is like the soil that grows the red blood cells. Just like soil to grow food well it needs implements like water, fertiliser and other nutrients.
In the same way for the bone marrow to produce the red blood cells and the hemoglobin, it needs iron, Vitamins and good levels of protein.
Therefore, in order to have good levels of blood the following are important;
1. A Healthy diet
2. Plenty of good exercise
3. Healthy living
Healthy living includes deworming your children regularly once a year, especially for children less than five years of age.
This keeps them free of parasites that may lead to them becoming anaemic.
Prevention of malaria, by using bed nets, having your house sprayed and kept free of mosquitoes.
Some habits such as excessive alcohol intake and smoking, will damage the liver and the kidney that help with the raw materials needed to produce hemoglobin and the red blood cells.
Make sure your diet is rich in green leafy vegetables, which contain vitamins and folic acid, which are the nutrients needs in producing blood.
Family planning and spacing is important for women, because it gives them time to recover these nutrients between pregnancies, too many pregnancies can deplete these reserves and cause anaemia.
