रक्त हे लाल, तांबड्या पेशी आणि प्लाज्मा(पेशींभोवतीचा द्रव(Liquid)) या सर्वांचे मिळून बनलेले असते. यांच्या बरोबरच रक्तात हिमोग्लोबीन हा एक सहाय्यक घटक असतो. हिमोग्लोबीन चे काम रक्ताबरोबर ऑक्सिजन वाहून घेऊन जाणे आणि ते शरीराच्या इतर पेशींपर्यंत पोहचवणे हे असते. खालील फोटोत हिमोग्लोबीन चे रेणू(Molecules) कसे रक्त पेशीत मिसळलेले असतात ते दिसते:

हिमोग्लोबिन वाढण्यामागचे काही कारणे:

जनरली रक्तात तांबड्या रक्त पेशी वाढल्या कि हिमोग्लोबिन चा आकडा देखील वाढतो. या कंडिशन ला एरीथ्रोसायटोसीस(रक्ताच्या गुठळ्या तयार होणे) असेही म्हणतात. यामुळे बरेच प्रॉब्लेम ओढवू शकतात कारण यात रक्ताभिसरणाच्या(Blood Circulation) प्रक्रियेत अडथळा येऊन रक्त गोठण्याचा प्रकार होऊ शकतो.

खालील दोन प्रक्रियांमुळे हिमोग्लोबिन वाढू शकते: 
•    लाल रक्तपेशींचे वाढलेले प्रमाण

•    रक्तातील प्लाज्मा (पेशींभोवतीचा लिक्विड भाग) आकुंचन पाऊण पेशीत पोकळी तयार करतो

या प्रक्रियेमागे खालील कारणे असू शकतात:

•    उंच ठिकाणी राहणे - उंच ठिकाणी ऑक्सिजन ची पातळी कमी असते. मग शरीर जास्त प्रमाणात ऑक्सिजन पेशींपर्यंत पोहचण्यासाठी जास्त हिमोग्लोबीन तयार करते.

•    धूम्रपान (Smoking) - स्मोकिंग करण्याने शरीरात ऑक्सिजन कमी होतो आणि मग परत मग शरीर जास्त प्रमाणात ऑक्सिजन पेशींपर्यंत पोहचण्यासाठी जास्त हिमोग्लोबीन तयार करते.

आणि बरेच कारणे हिमोग्लोबीन वाढण्यामागे असतात पण ते ह्या प्रश्नाच्या स्कोप च्या बाहेर आहे.

म्हणजेच हिमोग्लोबीन हा रक्तचाच एक घटक आहे परंतु त्याच्या अशा अनोख्या कामगिरीमुळे तो जरा जास्तच फेमस झालेला आहे...

Possible causes of elevated hemoglobin

A high hemoglobin count usually suggests that you have too many red blood cells. This condition is also called erythrocytosis. It can lead to a several complications because it can impair circulation and lead to abnormal clotting.

An elevated hemoglobin concentration is usually the result of 2 mechanisms: 

•    increased red blood cell production as a compensatory mechanism when blood oxygen carrying capacity is compromised to meet the demand of tissue

•    contracted plasma volume resulting in an appearance of greater red cell volume

Causes of an elevated hemoglobin count may include:

•    Living at high altitudes - The higher the altitude is, the lower the oxygen level is in the air. This makes body produce more hemoglobin to bind as much oxygen as possible!

•    Smoking - Several studies done in the past with volunteer smokers have proven that great percentage of the smokers have the elevated hemoglobin level, although the mechanism is still unknown. Some experts believe that it could be because of the low level of “pure” oxygen in the smoker’s lungs. So, this could be an adoptive mechanism on low oxygen levels.

•    Dehydration - Dehydration produces falsely high hemoglobin which disappears when proper fluid balance is restored.

•    Congenital heart disease

•    Cor pulmonale
Failure of the right side of your heart due to high blood pressure in the arteries of your lungs (pulmonary hypertension)

•    Pulmonary fibrosis
Condition characterized by scarring or thickening of the tissue between the air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs

•    Polycythemia vera
This is a very rare bone marrow disease in which body makes too many red blood cells.

•    Anabolic steroid use

The symptoms and possible complications

Although much of the clinical focus has been on anemia as a condition where there is a lack of hemoglobin, there are also problems at the high end. 
The most notable consequence is increased blood viscosity. 

Several studies have proven that the relation between hemoglobin and blood viscosity is linear when the hematocrit is <0.50 (equivalent to a hemoglobin value of 160 g/L). Above this hemoglobin concentration, the relation becomes exponential, which means that a small increase in hemoglobin or hematocrit results in a large increase in viscosity. Once hemoglobin concentrations reach 180 g/L, the blood viscosity reaches a level that impairs microcirculation and an inadequate amount of oxygen is transported to tissues, similar to the cases of severe anemia. 

Symptoms

Peripheral cyanosis and impaired mental function resulting from compromised cerebral blood circulation are the two most common symptoms of elevated hemoglobin! Additionally, because of the poor blood flow, the risk of thrombo-embolism increases significantly.

Treatment

Because the high hemoglobin can’t be considered as a special disorder it can be only treated as a symptom of some other underlying disease. That’s why treating the underlying disease will probably lower the hemoglobin level.