Teresa Webber
HCA/240
10/12/2013
Dr. Jillian Bennett Blood Disorders
There are several types of blood disorders and causes for these disorders vary from one medical problem to another. It is important to gather a patient’s symptoms and carefully examine them to make the correct diagnosis because there are too many categories that simple symptoms can fall under. This paper will explain the purpose of plasma, red blood cells, and platelets. It will also share scenarios of three individuals and their symptoms, including the diagnosis for each one. I will take and describe the cause of each disorder, compare the patients’ symptoms with that of the symptoms of the diagnosis. Finally, I will explain how each patient …show more content…
It supplies needed proteins for clotting and immunity. It exchanges minerals such as potassium and sodium to help keep the right amount of pH (acid-base) balance within the body. This is important to make the cells function normally. Plasma gets frozen as soon as it is donated to preserve its clotting factors and can be stored for up to one year then only thawed right before use, plasma gets transfused to trauma patients, those with severe liver disease and those with multiple clotting factor deficiencies. Plasma derivatives are concentrates of specific proteins prepared from various donor packages. Derivatives are collected through a process called fractionation. They are treated with heat or a solvent detergent to kill particular viruses like HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis …show more content…
For example, getting a cut allows the platelets to join at the site of the damaged vessel and causes the blood to clot. They stop us from bleeding. A platelet is the smallest of our blood cells. In their normal form, a platelet is round and flat, but when a vessel becomes damaged, a signal is sent to the platelets where they grow long tentacles and resemble an octopus. During a routine blood test called a complete blood count or CBC, “A normal platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood” ("Johns Hopkins Medicine", n.d.). Higher than 450,000 is a condition called thrombocytosis. Lower than 150,000 is a condition called thrombocytopenia. Too many platelets are cause for possible clotting. If you have platelets in the healthy range but they stick together, it could cause a heart attack or stroke. Whether there are too many, too little platelet count, abnormally functioning platelets, or conditions like stroke, heart attack or clotting related to platelet counts are likely to be