Without hemoglobin, your red blood cells cannot deliver the oxygen that your cells need to produce energy.
Since many of these proteins contain and the heme iron in a flat porphyrin support , they are often called hemoglobins, even if their overall tertiary structure is very different from that of vertebrate hemoglobin.
Iron's shift to a higher oxidation state in Hb-O 2 decreases the atom's size, and allows it into the plane of the porphyrin ring, pulling on the coordinated histidine residue and initiating the allosteric changes seen in the globulins.
For example, says that hemoglobin levels for men are slightly higher than for women.
This can lead to symptoms like jaundice, fatigue and certain neurological conditions.
Larsen, Sandra, Elisabeth Krefting Bjelland, Camilla Haavaldsen, and Anne Eskild.