September is Blood Cancer Awareness month. We asked information development nurse Hilary to explain more about the red stuff flowing through our veins. After a few wise cracks about pinot noir she gave us her top facts about blood... and a great crossword puzzle word.
There’s much more in your blood than meets the eye
In the 5 (ish) litres of blood pumping around the body, there are 3 main types of cell. Take a peek down the microscope and you’ll see:
These cells are carried in a liquid called plasma. Plasma is mostly water, but it also has hundreds of proteins dissolved in it.
Blood has a job to do
In fact, many jobs. As you read this, your blood is busy:
Haematopoiesis is why we have spell check
Fans of spelling bees and crossword puzzles, pay attention! This vowel-packed word means how blood cells develop from their baby stages through to being fully grown up.
Here’s how it works. Inside some of your bones are areas of spongy tissue called bone marrow. Millions of new blood cells are made here every day to replace ones that are wearing out.
Each blood cell grows from a special cell called a stem cell. The stem cell divides to make an early stage of the blood cell called a blast. Blast cells are babies. They are young and not fully developed.
Once they’ve matured into a full-grown blood cell, they move from the bone marrow into your blood and start working.
Blood cancers develop from a glitch in this process
For reasons we don’t really understand yet, sometimes a step in haematopoiesis goes wrong and a blood cancer develops. Instead of ending up with the usual levels of healthy mature cells, one type of cell develops abnormally.
The type of blood cancer that develops depends on the stage and type of cell that becomes abnormal. For example, in the blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the early stages of a white blood cell called a lymphocyte becomes abnormal.
Blood cancers include:
And a group of conditions known as myeloproliferative neoplasms:
We’ve more information for people affected by blood cancers on our website and booklets available to order from be.macmillan.org.uk
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