What markers define healthy blood function? Key strategies include regulating dietary iron, monitoring hematological counts, and identifying symptoms of vascular clots like DVT.
Your bloodstream is critical to your survival, because it's what carries oxygen and nutrient molecules to your body cells. Nutrient molecules that you absorb from the digestive tract can dissolve in the blood, and cells remove them from the blood as needed.
Read more →
Learn about the stages of a tooth abscess, from tooth decay to infection and spread. Understand how to prevent and treat this serious dental condition.
Read more →
Proper blood circulation plays a vital role in general health. The bloodstream continuously transports oxygen and nutrients to the brain, skin, and vital organs in the body. When your circulation is reduced, various diseases such as varicose veins, kidney disease, and even stroke may occur.
Read more →
There are five kinds of white blood cells--lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils. Overall, these cells have the responsibility of protecting you against infections. They fight and destroy what they consider to be foreign invaders. In this fight, they have a “division of labor.
Read more →
High blood sugar levels, or hyperglycemia, is a condition in which glucose concentrations in the blood are too high. This condition is commonly found in individuals who have diabetes and is caused when the body does not produce enough of or is resistant to the effects of the hormone insulin.
Read more →
Thrombocytopenia, the medical term for a low blood platelet count, occurs when blood platelets die faster than they’re reproduced. According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy count ranges between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets for every microliter of circulating blood. A low platelet count occurs for several reasons.
Read more →
Your circulatory system constantly keeps blood flowing throughout your body. Circulation that become compromised, sometimes due to inactivity during travel or bedrest, can lead to a potentially harmful condition called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT.
Read more →
Brown rice syrup is an alternative to refined table sugar and artificial sweeteners and is often included as an ingredient for many processed foods. To make brown rice syrup, brown rice is fermented to break down the starch in the grains, then the liquid is removed and heated until it reaches a syrup-like consistency.
Read more →
Two of the main components of human blood are red blood cells and white blood cells. While both types of blood cells are produced in similar ways, they have very different functions in the body. Without both red and white blood cells, bodily functions that are essential to good health would not be possible.
Read more →
Constriction of the blood vessels is the body’s way to raise the blood pressure. By narrowing the passage in the blood vessels, blood flows more slowly to the organs and the extremities. Certain foods may contribute to this process.
Read more →
Although the symptoms of a hypoglycemic attack can be very painful and include shaking, sweating and extreme hunger, you can reverse them. Attacks don't typically cause any long-term damage, unless the hypoglycemia goes untreated for long periods of time.
Read more →
The spice cinnamon purportedly lowers cholesterol levels when consumed in large amounts. Cinnamon is also touted as a treatment for other health issues such as diabetes, diarrhea and even the common cold. Medline indicates that there's no solid science supporting cinnamon's effectiveness for anything.
Read more →
There are several potential causes of elevated levels of protein in the blood. The type of protein circulating in the blood is often an antibody. The plasma cell that produces antibodies is part of the immune system, and thus, elevated protein levels in the blood may indicate an immune system disorder.
Read more →
Bruises occur when blood vessels near the skin’s surface are broken. Blood leaks out of the blood vessels and appears as a red, purple or black mark. The body eventually reabsorbs the blood, and the bruise disappears. Bruises can be caused by a blow or an injury.
Read more →
The thickness of your blood depends on specialized blood cells, called platelets. After tissue damage, your platelets activate, clump together and begin to synthesize protein fibers that hold the cells together in a blood clot to prevents bleeding from the injury site.
Read more →
Your body needs to maintain an optimum acid-base balance, or pH level, to ensure the various processes within your body occur without problems, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. When your body’s pH level becomes high, the condition is known as alkalosis.
Read more →
DHEA is an abbreviation for dehydroepiandrosterone, a hormone produced by your adrenal glands. Your adrenals are located above your kidneys.
Read more →
Anemia is most often caused by low iron or vitamin B levels in the blood. During pregnancy, the volume of blood in your body expands by about 50 percent, so you need extra iron to prevent anemia. According to the BabyCenter.
Read more →
In their simplest, most basic forms, hematomas are simply bruises. The prefix "hema," in fact, means blood. You get a hematoma when blood vessels break. Breaking of blood vessels causes blood to leak out and gather at the surface of your skin.
Read more →
An aneurysm is a pathologic dilatation of a blood vessel due to weakening of the vessel’s wall. The abdominal aorta is a major artery, which arises directly from the heart and supplies blood to the bottom half of your body. Abdominal aortic aneurysms are usually asymptomatic until serious complications arise.
Read more →