Hemoglobin and Red Blood Corpuscles

[Akam ahz]

Hi,

My physiology book says that The count of RBCs in newborn infants is higher than that of the adults.

Also, the Hb% in newborns is 19 g/dl while in adults is 15-16 g/dl.

I don't understand the reason why children have to have much more RBCs and Hemoglobin than adults, so an explanation in a simple language will be great.

Thanks in advance!

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[Doogie.Howser]

Hello!

A fetus can only intake oxygen from the bloodstream of it's mother. The only way it can take in the oxygen from the mother's hemoglobin is to have hemoglobin itself that has a higher affinity for oxygen. (You may know about this HbF already). So, from the background, we understand that the hemoglobin of a fetus, and therefore a newborn, has a much higher affinity for oxygen. This leads to a problem.. How does the oxygen get taken up by the organs from this hemoglobin that has such a high affinity for oxygen? Well, they have a higher concentration of it. To compensate for the loss of oxygen diffusion, they have an increased concentration of oxygen carrying hemoglobin. These values change within the first few weeks of birth while the body begins to create the hemoglobin we all contain (HbA and HbA2).

 

[Akam ahz]

Ok, I got it. Many thanks