Feeling Tired all the time?

Doctor says you have anemia?  What kind, that is the question, and why?   *

Could someone who knows how to test for hemolytic anemia share what that test is?  * There are many men who worked in our area who worked with chemicals 13 years ago, and feel tired all the time.  They could live anywhere in the country now.  One person knows he has anemia since that time...now has a low red blood cell count... doctors couldn't figure out why:  not dietary, not hereditary, colonoscopy indicated no internal bleeding, bone marrow OK, lymph nodes swollen throughout body, but lymph node biopsy was OK. So back to square one:  the doctor's don't know why he has anemia from a low red blood cell count.

And he's wondering... literature on Inipol EAP 22 ( which was used during the EXXON Valdez Oil Spill clean up starting Aug, 1989) indicate blood damage possible, being hemolytic anemia.  How to test for?  Any effective treatment?  

During that time, the company drew this man's blood with very thick-tubed needles so as to not destroy whatever it was they were looking for?  Since it was a new product being tested, would that mean anything?  What were they looking for?  He started feeling this tiredness a few months after the summer of '89 and worked again in the 1990 summer.  If there were a problem wouldn't the company know about it?  Surely they wouldn't let him work another summer with the same Inipol EAP 22 -which he did- if their testing indicated health problems?

Seek proper medical care, if your RBCs are low  *

 ... be sure to mention any chemicals that could have had an effect. *

If you were a union, NORCON worker of VECO... Corexit had 3 times the 2-butoxyethanol  * & maybe ethylene oxide *

Interesting Blood Facts

Definition

Hemolytic anemia is a condition of an inadequate number of circulating red blood cells (anemia), caused by premature destruction of red blood cells.   One type *** is Non-immune hemolytic anemia caused by chemical or physical agents Immune hemolytic anemia is a disorder characterized by anemia due to premature destruction of red blood cells by the immune system Symptoms Chills Fatigue Pale color Shortness of breath Rapid heart rate Yellow skin color (jaundice) Dark urine Enlarged spleen

http://www.bloodgivers.com/basicfacts.asp

 

Blood - The Basic Facts

Blood is a living tissue composed of cellular elements and a watery fluid called plasma. Blood volume is the total amount of blood circulating within the body. It represents about 8% of body weight. In females volume averages 4-5 liters, in males 5-6 liters.
The cellular parts comprising of red cells, white cells and platelets made up nearly 45% of the volume of blood. The Plasma, which makes up the remaining 55% is 92% water.

Blood has three main functions. These are Transport, Defense against disease, and Regulation of body Temperature.

Red blood cells (Erythrocytes) are the most common type of formed element in blood. Red blood cells are manufactured in the bone marrow of some bones including the Ribs, Vertebrae and some limb bones. 

RBCs, as they are called are produced at a very brisk pace of about 9000 million per hour. This is so because they have a short life of about four months. One reason for this is because they do not have a nucleus. 

RBCs are red because of the pigment Haemoglobin which carries oxygen. Haemoglobin is a protein, and contains iron. Old red cells are broken down in the Liver, Spleen and Bone marrow. Some of the iron from the haemoglobin is stored, and used for making new haemoglobin. Some is turned into bile pigment and excreted. 

RBCs also carry some Carbon Dioxide molecules from the cells to the lungs, but about 70% of the Carbon Dioxide dissolves within the plasma as Bicarbonate ions. The design of the red blood cell makes it ideal for oxygen and carbon dioxide transport. It is disc-shaped, indented in the center and flexible enough to squeeze through the smallest capillary.

RBCs transport hemoglobin which, in turn, transports oxygen. The amount of oxygen received by tissue is dependent on the amount and function of RBCs and hemoglobin. RBCs normally survive for about 120 days in the blood; they are then removed by phagocytic cells in the spleen or Kupffer cells in the liver.

White blood cells (Leukocytes) are made in the bone marrow and in the Lymph Nodes. WBCs as they are called have a nucleus, which is often quite large and lobed. They can move around and can squeeze out through the walls of blood capillaries into all parts of the body. Their role is to fight infection, and to clear up any dead body cells.

Platelets are small fragments of cells, with no nucleus. They are made in bone marrow. Platelets help in the formation of blood clots. When platelets come into contact with a damage tissue, they stick to the edges of the damaged area, and then to each other, forming a plug. Larger wounds however need a larger barrier than this. Blood plasma contains several substances, which are involved in blood clotting. There are thirteen of these blood-clotting factors. If any one of them is defective, then blood will not clot. For example, clotting disorder due to a missing factor V111 is referred as Haemophilia. Two of these blood-clotting factors are Prothombin and Fibrinogen, which are soluble proteins dissolved in the blood plasma. If a tissue is damaged, it releases a chemical called Thromboplastin. This converts Prothrombin to Thrombin. Thrombin acts on Fibrinogen, converting it to the protein Fibrin. Fibrin is insoluble and forms fibers across the wound. Blood cells and platelets get caught up in the fibers, forming a clot.