Question

What would be the consequences of deficiency of haemoglobin in the human body?
a. Anaemia
b. Night blindness
c. Keratomalacia
d. None of the above

Answer 1

Haemoglobin is the respiratory pigment which transports oxygen to the body Haemoglobin cellular respiration. It is present in red blood corpuscles which are biconcave in structure devoid of cell organelles. This is due to haemoglobin being a large complex that requires space to accommodate.

Complete answer:
Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying pigment in the blood. If there is a deficiency of haemoglobin in the blood, it can affect the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells.

Option B is incorrect: Night blindness is the inability to see at night or poor light due to deficiency of vitamin A. It is also known as nyctalopia where the pigments iodopsin and rhodopsin are not synthesized.

Option C is incorrect: Keratomalacia is the change in the eye mucosal layer due to deficiency of vitamin A. The cornea gets clouded and later turns into the dryness of the cornea.

Option A is correct: Anaemia is the disease associated with blood and deficiency of healthy red blood cells that have insufficient haemoglobin. This leads to a decrease of oxygen-carrying capacity of blood which leads to fatigue, skin pallor, shortness of breath, and dizziness.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Additional information:
• The most important element for the synthesis of haemoglobin is iron. It is a complex with iron being its centre. Out of the other types of anaemia, iron deficiency anaemia is the most common.
• There are different types of anaemia also,
• Sickle cell anaemia- Crescent shapes the development of red blood cells due to genetic alterations that decrease the haemoglobin carrying capacity of the cells, leading to anaemia.
• Iron- Deficiency anaemia- Less production of haemoglobin due to deficiency of iron in the blood is the main cause.
• Vitamin- deficiency anaemia- Vitamin B12 and folic acid are very important for the production of red blood cells. Less consumption of vitamins in the blood causes a low RBC count.

Note: Haemoglobin is very important as it is the respiratory enzyme that carries oxygen. The binding of haemoglobin to oxygen takes place at four sites. This binding is not simultaneous but occurs step by step. First, the first oxygen molecule binds to the first site and then the others. In anaemia, deficiency of haemoglobin might cause less oxygen binding and low oxygen content to reach the body tissues and other disorders mainly arise.