What causes blood to turn red? Colored blood

Blood plays the role of a transportation system in our body. When pumped by the heart, blood delivers oxygen from the inhaled air, and that's it nutrients from the food we eat to all cells of the body.

Blood also keeps cells clean and healthy by carrying away waste products from cells that are produced after oxygen and nutrients are used. To regulate various processes in our body, glands produce hormones, and it is the blood that carries these hormones throughout the body. Blood also carries heat throughout the body.
A watery liquid like plasma– makes up more than half of the blood in the body. Plasma contains metabolic products, nutrients, and also substances and chemical compounds, which are so necessary for blood clotting.

Tiny cells make up the rest of the blood. Red blood cells such as red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body and remove carbon dioxide from the lungs. red blood cells. White blood cells - leukocytes, are the remaining elements of blood. Leukocytes destroy pathogens that enter our body, thereby protecting us from all kinds of infections.
Although red blood cells are the smallest cells in our body, a drop of blood contains approximately 5 million red blood cells, 10 thousand white blood cells, and 250 thousand platelets. Platelets are responsible for the formation of a blood clot in the place where the blood vessel is damaged.
There are only four blood groups: 0, A, B, AB. Every person's blood belongs to one of these groups.

The protein found in the blood is called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is found in red blood cells and contains iron, and because of this, our blood is red. Sometimes our blood is dark red, and sometimes it is bright red. Changing the amount of oxygen in our blood explains the difference in color.

Types of blood vessels called arteries carry blood from the heart and lungs to the rest of the organs. Such blood is saturated with oxygen, which, when combined with hemoglobin, gives the blood its bright red color.

If appeared fair blood If you have your period, but previously your menstruation was of a different nature (color, consistency, smell), you should immediately visit a gynecologist. Often such discharge is a sign serious illness. You may need to consult a neurologist and endocrinologist.

In the absence of deviations, the color of the secreted fluid may be scarlet, dark red or brown in the first and last days (daub). It also contains inclusions of mucus, fragments of rejected endometrium

Menstruation should be without the presence of an unpleasant (fetid) odor, itching, burning, severe pain, . This is considered normal if menstruation began on time, no less than 21 days from the previous critical days, the blood does not clot, overall volume discharge on average does not exceed 80-100 ml for the entire period, and their duration ranges from 3 to 7 days.

If women of reproductive age have periods like water with blood throughout the entire period, then at the end of it it will be necessary to seek advice from a gynecologist. It is recommended to be examined using an ultrasound (transvaginal), video colposcope (extensive colposcopy), and donate blood to determine the level of hemoglobin and hormones.

In girls for a year or 2 years after menarche and in women during premenopause, the preservation of scarlet (light) color of menstrual blood is not a pathology. However, a doctor's examination is recommended to rule out diseases.

Light, not abundant bleeding 2-2.5 weeks after menstruation may be due to ovulation (when the egg is released, the hormonal levels change, the follicle membrane is damaged). May be implantation bleeding, when the embryo implants into the endometrial tissue, rupturing the vessels. Normally, such red discharge lasts from several hours to 3-5 days, which is why women perceive it either as menstruation or as a deviation.

Pathology during light menstruation

There are several reasons why the discharge remains bright red, pink or faintly colored (beige), or critical days appear ahead of schedule. These are endocrine, gynecological and venereal diseases, spontaneous abortions early stage pregnancy, trauma to the mucous membranes with an intrauterine device, the consequence of unsuccessful curettage, cancer.

Symptoms of pathological abnormalities:

• less than 3 weeks or more than 35 days have passed between menstruation;
• scanty or heavy periods or they last longer than 7 days;
• there are clots larger than 2-2.5 cm;
• systematic cycle failures;
• light remains throughout the entire period of critical days;
• unpleasant odor reminiscent of rotten fish;
• itching, dryness;
• body temperature is higher than normal;
• cutting or other pain in the area genitourinary organs, paths;
• scanty discharge becomes more abundant over time, without signs of completion;
• bleeding systematically resumes every few days.

If there is at least one symptom, a diagnosis should be carried out immediately to find the cause of the deviation. Gynecological examination is required even if the color of menstruation is normal (dark red, not bright), but there are other symptoms of pathology. Early diagnosis will avoid complications, one of which is iron deficiency anemia.

Reasons for appearance light color blood:

• criminal abortion;
• miscarriage;
• bacterial infections acquired through sexual contact (STDs);
• damage to the mucous membranes or endometrium by a medical instrument;
• incorrectly selected hormonal drugs, including contraception;
• low hemoglobin level.

With the help of a gynecologist, laboratory and hardware diagnostics, it is easier to identify the causes that provoked bleeding or eliminate factors that contribute to its reoccurrence. For example, they select adequate hormonal contraception, remove the intrauterine device, eliminate the consequences of abortion, and use other treatment methods.

Bacterial vaginosis

The vaginal microflora of women contains lactobacilli, which maintain optimal acidity of the reproductive tract environment and suppress pathogenic infections streptococcus, coli, staphylococcus and other agents. If they are violated natural level a woman may develop gardnerellosis (synonyms: dysbiosis of the vaginal environment, bacterial vaginosis).

Usually, the number of lactobacilli changes due to excessive douching, the use of low-quality products for intimate hygiene, after sexual intercourse (unprotected sex) or drug treatment (by-effect drugs). Pathology does not apply to venereology.

Symptoms of the disease: rotten fish (the aroma intensifies after sex), light blood, a lot of mucus, itching. For diagnosis, additional smears are taken from which pathogenic microflora will be inoculated.

If vaginosis is confirmed, therapy is prescribed using antibacterial drugs and other drugs appropriate for the treatment of the specific stage of the disease. It is necessary to eliminate gardnerellosis to avoid inflammatory processes.

During menstruation, the blood may appear pink, bright red, or like slightly colored water (ichor). If a test confirmation of pregnancy has already been received (standard or hCG), then such menstruation is a sign spontaneous abortion. A situation like this requires medical supervision with possible hormonal adjustments to preserve the fetus.

However, there are often cases when menstrual cycle operates according to schedule throughout the first trimester and is light. A doctor's consultation is advisable.

Conclusion

A woman is recommended to undergo regular general routine medical examinations to protect yourself from complications various diseases. After all, light menstrual blood occurs when there is a malfunction thyroid gland(hormonal imbalances), due to overwork, chronic fatigue, poor nutrition (strict diets), diseases nervous system and for many other reasons.

Science knows that different living organisms on the planet have different blood colors.

However, in humans it is red. Why is blood red? This question is asked by both children and adults.

The answer is quite simple: the red color is due to hemoglobin, which contains iron atoms in its structure.

What makes blood red is hemoglobin, which consists of:

1. From a protein called globin;
2. The non-protein element heme, which contains the ferrous ion.

It was possible to find out what gives the red color, but its elements turn out to be no less interesting. What elements give it this color is an equally interesting aspect.

Blood contains:

1. Plasma. The liquid is light yellow in color, with its help the cells in its composition can move. It is composed of 90 percent water, with the remaining 10 percent made up of organic and inorganic components. Plasma also contains vitamins and microelements. The light yellow liquid contains many useful substances.
2. The formed elements are blood cells. There are three types of cells: white blood cells, platelets and red blood cells. Each type of cell has certain functions and characteristics.

These are white cells that protect the human body. They protect him from internal diseases and foreign microorganisms penetrating from outside.

This is a white element in color. Its white hue is impossible not to notice during laboratory research, so such cells are determined quite simply.

White blood cells recognize foreign cells that can cause harm and destroy them.

These are very small colored plates whose main function- folding.

These cells are responsible for ensuring that the blood:

• It coagulated and did not flow out of the body;
• Coagulates quite quickly on the surface of the wound.

More than 90 percent of these cells are in the blood. It is also red because red blood cells have this hue.

They carry oxygen from the lungs to peripheral tissues and are continuously produced in bone marrow. They live for about four months, then are destroyed in the liver and spleen.

It is very important for red blood cells to carry oxygen to various tissues of the human body.

Few people know that immature red blood cells are blue, then acquire a gray tint and only then become red.

There are quite a lot of human red blood cells, which is why oxygen reaches peripheral tissues so quickly.

It is difficult to say which element is more significant. Each of them has important function affecting human health.

Children often ask questions regarding the components of the human body. Blood is one of the most popular topics of discussion.

Explanations for children should be extremely simple, but at the same time informative. Blood contains many substances that differ in function.

Consists of plasma and special cells:

1. Plasma is a liquid that contains useful substances. It has a light yellow tint.
2. The formed elements are erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets.

The presence of red cells - erythrocytes - explains its color. Red blood cells are red by nature, and their accumulation leads to the fact that a person’s blood is exactly this color.

There are about thirty-five billion red cells that move throughout the human body in the blood vessels.

Why are veins blue

The veins carry burgundy blood. They are red, like the color of the blood that flows through them, but not blue. The veins only appear blue.

This can be explained by the law of physics about the reflection of light and perception:

When a ray of light hits the body, the skin reflects some of the waves and looks light. However, it transmits the blue spectrum much worse.

The blood itself absorbs light of all wavelengths. Skin gives for visibility Blue colour, and the vein is red.

Human brain compares color blood vessel against warm skin tone, resulting in blue.

Blood of a different color in various living creatures

Not all living organisms have red blood.

The protein that gives this color in humans is hemoglobin, contained in hemoglobin. Other living beings have other fat-containing proteins instead of hemoglobin.

The most common shades besides red are:

1. Blue. Crustaceans, spiders, mollusks, octopuses and squids boast this color. AND blue blood It has great value for these creatures, as it is filled important elements. Instead of hemoglobin, it contains hemocyanin, which contains copper.
2. Violet. This color is found in marine invertebrates and some mollusks. Typically, such blood is not only purple, but also slightly pink. Color pink blood in young invertebrate organisms. IN in this case protein - hemerythrin.
3. Green. Found in annelids and leeches. The protein is chlorocruorin, close to hemoglobin. However, iron in this case is not oxide, but ferrous.

The color of blood varies depending on the protein it contains. Whatever color the blood is, it has a huge amount useful substances necessary for a living organism. Pigment is important for every organism, despite its diversity.

Video - Secrets and mysteries of our blood

Does blood have to be red? Why shouldn’t it, for example, be green or blue, or, in general, like in the movie “Predator,” glow in the dark? Do you remember the colorless blood-acid in Alien? Or the “blue blood” of Russian nobles? Isn't it cool? So, let's try to figure out what causes the color of blood:

All people have red blood. As you know, it gives color hemoglobin, which is the main component of the red blood cell, filling it by 1/3. It is formed as a result of the interaction of the globin protein with four iron atoms and a number of other elements. It is thanks to iron oxide (Fe 2+) that hemoglobin acquires red color. All vertebrates, some species of insects and mollusks have iron oxide in their blood protein, and therefore their blood has a scarlet color.

But it turns out that blood doesn’t have to be red at all. Some animals have blood of a completely different color. For example, in some invertebrates, oxygen is carried not by hemoglobin, but by another iron-containing protein - hemerythrin or chlorocruorin.

Hemerythrin, which is a respiratory pigment in the blood of brachiopods, contains five times more iron than hemoglobin. Oxygenated hemerythrin gives blood violet tint, and having given oxygen to the tissues, such blood becomes pink. Hemerythrin is localized in cells, which, unlike ordinary red blood cells, are called pink blood cells.

But in polychaete worms the respiratory pigment is another iron-containing protein - chlorocruorin, dissolved in blood plasma. Chlorocruorin is close to hemoglobin, but its basis is not oxide iron, but ferrous iron, which gives blood and tissue fluid green color.

However, nature is not limited to these options. It turns out that the transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide can be carried out by respiratory pigments based on ions of other metals (besides iron).

For example, sea squirts have blood colorless, since it is based on - hemovanadium, containing vanadium ions.

Do you remember our nobles with blue blood? It turns out that this happens in nature, but the truth is only in octopuses, octopuses, spiders, crabs and scorpions. The reason for such a noble color lies in the fact that the respiratory pigment of their blood is not hemoglobin, but hemocyanin, in which copper (Cu 2+) is present instead of iron. Combining with atmospheric oxygen, hemocyanin turns blue, and, giving oxygen to tissues, it becomes somewhat discolored. As a result of this, these animals have blood flowing in their arteries. blue blood, and in the veins is blue. If hemoglobin is usually found in both plasma and shaped elements blood (most often in red blood cells), then hemocyanin is simply dissolved in the blood plasma. Interestingly, there are organisms, for example, some mollusks, which can simultaneously contain hemoglobin and hemocyanin, and in some cases one of them acts as an oxygen carrier in the blood, and the other in the tissues.

By the way, there are still known cases when people turned out to have blue blood. True, not at all among the nobles. The Trud newspaper once published about one such case (dated March 17, 1992):

“Mikheev, a resident of Severodvinsk, decided to donate blood for noble reasons, as well as to receive a discounted lunch coupon. He passed. The doctors looked at it and gasped: the blood turned out to be a strange bluish color. They sent it for analysis to the Arkhangelsk Toxicology Laboratory. It turned out that unusual color caused by functional changes in the liver. And these changes are associated with Mikheev’s habit of drinking alcohol-containing liquids of ignoble, let’s say, origin. For example... stain..." Who knows, maybe our blue-blooded kings didn't disdain stain either... ;-)

Well, and finally, a tablet where all this completely useless knowledge about the color of blood is brought together:

P.S. By the way, why did I get interested in this stupid question about the color of blood... The fact is that last week I had fun with the fact that, together with kpblca wrote a semi-fiction story. The beginning, but the unfinished “story” itself. By the way, maybe there will be people willing to write a sequel to it...

Update (14-Jun-2003): The story would be incomplete if, having talked about red, green, blue, blue and violet blood, I did not mention the yellow and orange blood, which is often found in insects.

The reason that I forgot about this blood is that I was looking for information about respiratory pigments, and in insects, the blood (or more precisely, the hemolymph) is devoid of these pigments and does not participate in the transfer of oxygen at all. Respiration in insects is carried out using tracheas - branching tubes that directly connect cells internal organs with the air environment. The air inside the tracheal tube is motionless. There is no forced ventilation, and the influx of oxygen into the body (as well as the outflow of carbon dioxide) occurs due to diffusion due to the difference in the partial pressures of these gases at the inner and outer ends of the tube.

This oxygen supply mechanism strictly limits the length of the tracheal tube, the maximum length of which is quite simply calculated, so the maximum size of the body of the insect itself (in cross-section) cannot exceed the size chicken egg. However, if there were higher pressure on our planet, insects could reach gigantic size(like in science fiction horror films).

The color of hemolymph in insects can be almost any color, because... it contains many different substances, including poisons and acids. Thus, the blister family got its name precisely because of the ability of its representatives (for example, the Spanish fly) to secrete drops from the joints of the thighs and legs yellow blood, which when it comes into contact with human skin causes burns and abscess-like watery blisters.

The hemolymph of representatives of many families contains very toxic substances, in particular cantharidin. If such poisonous hemolymph enters the mouth, it can cause serious poisoning and even death. The blood of ladybugs is especially poisonous - it has a specific smell, is cloudy, yellow-orange the liquid that they secrete in case of danger.

All babies have their blood taken for analysis immediately after birth. In the first hours of life, doctors check general blood counts and whether the little person has severe congenital pathologies, for example, hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria. It is important to identify these ailments as soon as possible, because the health of the baby directly depends on this, as well as his further intellectual and physical development in the future life.

What will the blood test show?

A blood test today is one of the best and most accessible indicators of changes occurring in the body. If a child feels unwell, most likely the doctor will recommend a test, which in a matter of hours will help identify, for example, inflammatory process and start treatment as soon as possible.

Infectious diseases in a newborn

This condition, dangerous to the life and health of the baby, is characterized by a sharp jump in the level of leukocytes and an increase in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The first changes can be detected in a child even before the appearance of external signs diseases, which is very important for more successful treatment.

Pediatricians recommend that parents do not avoid this simple study, although children usually do not like this process too much. In order to calm a child, you must first calm down yourself. And then talk to the baby and convince him that all this is not dangerous at all. In addition, after donating blood without tears, you can go to your favorite toy store or buy a delicious sweet at the nearest confectionery shop. Try it, this method works!

Why is blood red?

In addition, children aged why are very interested in learning more about the structure of the body. Therefore, to the question “why is blood red,” young mothers and fathers need to prepare a detailed answer in advance. It should be something like this:

Human blood consists of a large number of different cells. They are so small that we cannot see them without special equipment. There are red blood cells in the blood; doctors call them erythrocytes. They contain a special substance called hemoglobin. It, in turn, contains iron, which gives our blood its red color. In addition, hemoglobin is the main carrier of oxygen in the body!

photo: depositphotos.com, channel: Igor Koval