Hematocrit Determination

2/12/2021 PhysioEx Exercise 11 Activity 1 PhysioEx Lab Report Exercise 11: Blood Analysis Activity 1: Hematocrit Determination Name: Date: 12 February 2021 Pre-lab Quiz Results You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly. 1 Hematocrit You correctly answered: of 40 means that 40% of the volume of blood consists of RBCs. 2 A buffy coat layer You correctly answered: is all of the above. 3 The diagnosis of anemia indicates You correctly answered: a lower-than-normal hematocrit. 4 Polycythemia refers to You correctly answered: a significant increase in RBCs. Experiment Results Predict Question 1 Predict Question: Predict how the hematocrits of the patients living in Denver, Colorado (approximately one mile above sea level), will compare with the hematocrit levels of the patients living in Boston, Massachusetts (at sea level). Your answer: The hematocrits of the Denver residents will be higher than those of the Boston residents. Stop & Think Question 1 Why would the hemoglobin levels of an anemic patient be lower than the hemoglobin levels of a normal, healthy individual? You correctly answered: Because hemoglobin resides in RBCs, you would anticipate a low hematocrit level to coincide with a low hemoglobin level. Experiment Data i 1/4 2/12/2021 PhysioEx Exercise 11 Activity 1 Blood sample Height of column of blood Height of red Height of buffy blood cell coat layer (white blood cells) Hematocrit % WBC 1 100 mm 48 mm 1 mm 48 1 2 100 mm 3 100 mm 44 mm 1 mm 44 1 55 mm 1 mm 55 1 4 100 mm 53 mm 1 mm 53 1 5 100 mm 19 mm 0.5 mm 19 0.5 6 100 mm 32 mm 1 mm 32 1 Sample 1: healthy male living in Boston Sample 2: healthy female living in Boston Sample 3: healthy male living in Denver Sample 4: healthy female living in Denver Sample 5: male with aplastic anemia Sample 6: female with iron-deficiency anemia Post-lab Quiz Results You scored 100% by answering 4 out of 4 questions correctly. 1 Anemia refers to You correctly answered: a lower-than-normal hematocrit. 2 To complete the blood test to measure hematocrit, you must seal the blood-containing capillary tubes on one end with a clay material so that You correctly answered: the blood sample can be centrifuged without having the blood spray out of the tube. 3 Possible causes of polycythemia include You correctly answered: living at high altitudes. 4 You would expect anemia to develop in a person You correctly answered: who has abnormally shaped hemoglobin in their RBCs. Review Sheet Results i 2/4 2/12/2021 PhysioEx Exercise 11 Activity 1 1 List the hematocrits for the healthy male (sample 1) and female (sample 2) living in Boston (at sea level) and indicate whether they are normal or whether they indicate anemia or polycythemia. Your answer: The hematocrit for the healthy male (sample 1) was 48%, while the hematocrit for the healthy female (sample 2) was 44%. The average hematocrit for healthy males is 42-52%, and the average hematocrit for females is 37-47%. This indicates that both are normal as the numbers fall in range between the average hematocrit for their respective gender. They do not have a lower-than-normal hematocrit or a higher-than-normal hematocrit. Hence, they do not suffer from anemia or polycythemia. 2 Describe the difference between the hematocrits for the male and female living in Boston. Why does this difference between the sexes exist? Your answer: The difference between the hematocrits for the male and female living in Boston is that the male's hematocrit level is a little higher than the female's. This difference between the sexes exist is because that men have higher levels of testosterone in their body than females. Testosterone stimulates erythropoietin, which is a hormone produced by the kidneys that increases production of proerythroblasts. Proerythroblasts are red blood cell precursors. Therefore, hormones play an important role in red blood cell production, causing a difference between the hematocrits for males and females. 3 List the hematocrits for the healthy male and female living in Denver (approximately one mile above sea level) and indicate whether they are normal or whether they indicate anemia or polycythemia. Your answer: The hematocrit for the male living in Denver is 55%, while the hematocrit for the female living in Denver is 53%. The average hematocrit for males is 42-52%, and the average hematocrit for females is 37-47%. Because both samples of the male and female's hematocrit level falls above their average genders' healthy range, this indicates that both individuals have polycythemia. Polycythemia is having a higher-than-normal hematocrit level. 4 How did the hematocrit levels of the Denver residents differ from those of the Boston residents? Why? How well did the results compare with your prediction? Your answer: i 3/4 2/12/2021 PhysioEx Exercise 11 Activity 1 During the experiment, I predicted that the hematocrits of the Denver residents will be higher than those of the Boston residents. This is due to the reason that Denver is approximately one mile above sea level while Boston is at sea level. Living in higher altitudes causes polycythemia as there are less oxygen in the air at higher elevation. Because there is less oxygen, the kidneys' response would be to stimulate erythropoietin, thereby increasing red blood cells or hematocrit. 5 Describe how the kidneys respond to a chronic decrease in oxygen and what effect this has on hematocrit levels. Your answer: The kidneys response to a chronic decrease in oxygen is by secreting more erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates red blood cell production, causing a higher hematocrit. This allows more oxygen to be carried to the tissues. 6 List the hematocrit for the male with aplastic anemia (sample 5) and indicate whether it is normal or abnormal. Explain your response. Your answer: The hematocrit for the male with aplastic anemia (sample 5) is 19%. The average range of hematocrit for healthy males is 42-52%. Therefore, this individual has an abnormally low hematocrit. This condition could be due to the failure of the bone marrow to produce an adequate number of red blood cells. 7 List the hematocrit for the female with iron-deficiency anemia (sample 6) and indicate whether it is normal or abnormal. Explain your response. Your answer: The hematocrit for the female with iron-deficiency anemia (sample 6) is 32%. The average range of hematocrit for healthy females is 37-47%. Therefore, this individual has an abnormally low hematocrit. Iron is crucial because the heme portion of a hemoglobin molecule needs an atom of iron for oxygen molecules to bind. If there isn't enough iron available, the body cannot manufacture hemoglobin. As a result, this would lead to an abnormally low level of hematocrit. i 4/4