Friday, March 18, 2011

In case the importance of Hemoglobin was in question...


The Function of Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin’s main role in the body is to act as an oxygen delivery system.  Hemoglobin can be found within red blood cells, and as they pass by the lungs the hemoglobin pick up oxygen.  As the red blood cells continue to travel through the body, the hemoglobin are able to release the oxygen, thus spreading it to tissues throughout the body.  The mechanism behind this lies within the equilibrium of T and R states.  This and other functionalities of the hemoglobin mechanism are further explored in this article…

Hemoglobin Disorders
Many diseases are inherited through genetic information, and are sometimes labeled as mendelian disorders.  The most common of these disorders arise from hemoglobin dysfunction and include sickle cell anemia.  This disease is caused by a structural mutation of an amino acid in the hemoglobin, which can lead to the sickeling shape of their red blood cell hosts.  Information on potential avenues of modifying the genes involved in diseases like sickle cell anemia can have great clinical effects, and are discussed within http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05821.x/full.

Anemia and frailty
Anemia is an increasingly evident disorder found within the elderly, caused by a lack of oxygen being delivered to body tissue.  An obvious component of this disorder is hemoglobin.  Clinical trails aimed at determining if improved hemoglobin can reduce anemic symptoms as a form of treatment are discussed at length in this article, as treatment and understanding of common disorders are pivotal advancements. 

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