Do you know what red blood cells look like? Well, we have the shape of a donut without the hole; we are very small discs with cutouts on both sides. Our color is pale pink due to a substance that contains iron called "hemoglobin". However, when we are collected by the millions in a drop of blood, we look red. We will not stop here now. We know that some of you worry when you see us, so let's try not to be seen. But we are your friends.
We are made in a "factory", so to speak, called red marrow. In the bones of your arms, legs, etc., your spinal cord is very busy producing new stocks of red blood cells. About 8.5 billion of us are trained every day; and a similar number is destroyed. Did you know that all of this was happening inside you?
Our service life is not very long, only about four months. What happens when we reach the end of our life? Now we end up in the liver or spleen. Here, special cells called phagocytes (meaning "eating cells") await us. They swallow old red blood cells as they move in the blood. Therefore, within the phagocytes, we are separated. But our leftovers are treated with respect. About 85% of the iron in hemoglobin is stored in the body for use in the production of hemoglobin for new red blood cells. Therefore, only 15% of the exhausted iron needs to be replaced. You can do this by eating liver, oats, eggs, spinach, a diet that includes foods that contain iron.
Our main goal is to transport oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body. As you know, when we enter the lungs, we are releasing our carbon dioxide and getting our supply of oxygen.
Since the number of knots in the blood is determined to some extent by the need for oxygen, some people have more than others. For example, an athlete has more red blood cells than an employee. And people who live at high altitudes have us more than those who live at sea level. You may have heard colloquialism: "Your blood thins when you get used to the heat." In fact, for us, the opposite is true! Because we increase in number when it's hot and decrease in number when it's cold.
There is a peculiarity that we have. You really should know this because it can save your life. See, we collect a poisonous gas called "carbon monoxide" even faster than oxygen. If you start the car in the garage before opening the door, the red blood cells will be charged with carbon monoxide. It's bad for you, because we can't carry oxygen. In addition, hemoglobin does not easily release this poisonous gas. Therefore, it takes a long time for the affected red blood cells to do a good job again. Until then, your body's cells are deprived of the oxygen they need. The result is dangerous. It is as if many of us are led astray! If many of us are affected, this is the end - for us and for you! So be careful.