Blood Disorders
Haematology is a very specialist area of medicine which deals with disorders of the blood and doctors who specialise in this area are Haematologists.
Blood contains complex cells, which fulfil different functions, and if any problems are found within these cells, haematologists need to ensure appropriate treatment is given in order to prevent major health problems.
There are three types of cell within the blood, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Red blood cells are responsible for taking oxygen from the lungs to tissues in the body and contain a protein known as haemoglobin. If a patient is found to have less red blood cells than they should have they are anaemic, which means they may be suffering from an underlying disease or infection. If a patient is found to be anaemic it is very important to identify why and treat the cause of the anaemia as soon as possible. Failure to do so could affect the long-term health of the patient.
White blood cells are important to fight infection and provide immunity to disease. It is important to identify if there is a lack of these cells, or abnormal cells, as it may lead to a higher risk of a patient contracting an infection. A high level of white blood cells indicates that there is an infection present in the body and is an important sign to doctors that there could be an underlying problem which needs to be diagnosed and treated.
Platelets are small cell fragments that stick together in damaged blood vessels. This helps the blood to clot and prevents uncontrollable bleeding. Certain conditions may mean that the blood will not clot as it should do, and may either result in excessive bleeding, or result in blood which is too thick, causing clots to form within the body. Whenever symptoms occur where the blood appears not to be clotting normally it is important to find the cause so that appropriate treatment can be started.
It is not surprising that the treatment of blood disorders is complex and extreme care must be taken in treating each individual. Sometimes mistakes do happen in the treatment of blood disorders and drugs given to treat disorders have to be monitored carefully as they can ‘over treat’ the original medical condition. For example, doctors who want to thin a patient’s blood because they are suffering from deep vein thrombosis, may give them the drug Warfarin. Too much Warfarin, however, could lead to excessive bleeding and unexpected medical complications.
If you suspect that you have suffered negligence in the treatment or diagnosis of a blood disorder, you should seek advice from our team of medical negligence solicitors.
Contact us to see how we can help you.
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