What does haemoglobin actually do in your blood? Haemoglobin is an iron-rich protein inside red blood cells. Its main job is to carry oxygen from your lungs to cells around your body.
The oxygen-delivery comparison
Think of haemoglobin like a delivery system travelling inside red blood cells. At the lungs, it collects oxygen. As blood moves around the body, it brings that oxygen to body cells.
This comparison is a simple way to picture the job. Haemoglobin is a protein, not a person or a vehicle. Oxygen delivery also depends on your lungs, heart, blood vessels and red blood cells working together.
Where haemoglobin is
Haemoglobin is found inside red blood cells. These cells travel through the blood, helping carry the oxygen that haemoglobin picks up in the lungs.
Why body cells need oxygen
Body cells use oxygen to make energy and keep working. They also need it to grow and reproduce. Haemoglobin helps get oxygen to the places where it is needed every day.
You can read more in MedlinePlus' Hemoglobin Test information.
Hb is not HbA1c
A haemoglobin result, often shortened to Hb, is about this oxygen-carrying protein. It is not the same as HbA1c, which relates to average blood sugar.
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Takeaway: Haemoglobin helps red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to the cells that use it every day.
This article is for general education and does not replace personalised advice from a qualified healthcare professional.