Blood

Question 1

How many litres of blood should an average, healthy man have roughly?

Answer 1

5 litres

Question 2

How much blood roughly should a newborn baby have?

Answer 2

350ml

Question 3

What are the 4 components of blood?

Answer 3

• plasma
• red blood cells
• white blood cells
• platelets

Question 4

What does plasma do?

Answer 4

circulates biologically active molecules and compounds

Question 5

What are the 3 categories that plasma proteins are subdivided into?

Answer 5

• albumin
• globulin
• fibrinogen and other clotting factors

Question 6

What do plasma proteins generate?

Answer 6

oncotic pressure

Question 7

Why are plasma proteins responsible for generating oncotic pressure?

Answer 7

they cannot cross the capillary walls

Question 8

What are the 2 forces required for movement between capillary and interstitial space?

Answer 8

1. hydrostatic pressure

2. colloid oncotic pressure

Question 9

What is hypoproteinaemia?

Answer 9

abnormally low levels of circulating plasma protein

Question 10

What are 4 factors that can lead to hypoproteinaemia?

Answer 10

1. prolonged starvation
2. liver disease
3. intestinal disease
4. nephrosis (kidney disease)

Question 11

What is a common characteristic of hypoproteinaemia?

Answer 11

oedema due to loss of oncotic pressure

Question 12

What are the most abundant blood cells?

Answer 12

red blood cells

Question 13

What is the name given to red blood cell formation?

Answer 13

erythropoeisis

Question 14

What controls and accelerates erythropoiesis?

Answer 14

erythropoietin

Question 15

When is erythropoietin secretion enhanced?

Answer 15

when oxygen delivery to the kidneys is reduced

Question 16

What are the most abundant type of white blood cells?

Answer 16

neutrophils

Question 17

What do neutrophils do?

Answer 17

form first line of defence

are phagocytic and can also entrap bacteria

Question 18

What do eosinophils do?

Answer 18

attack pathogens too large for neutrophils and other defence cells

Question 19

What do basophils do?

Answer 19

release histamine and heparin - trigger inflammation

Question 20

What do monocytes do?

Answer 20

migrate to spleen, liver, lungs and lymph nodes - become macrophages

Question 21

What is a macrophage?

Answer 21

a mature monocyte that has migrated from the blood to connective tissue
is phagocytic

Question 22

What are lymphocytes?

Answer 22

constituents of the adaptive immune system - B cells and T cells

Question 23

What is leukopoiesis (white blood cell formation) controlled by?

Answer 23

a cocktail of cytokines (proteins/peptides released from one cell type which act on another)

Question 24

What 3 things realease cytokines for leukopoiesis?

Answer 24

1. mature white blood cells
2. fibroblasts
3. endothelial cells

Question 25

What do the cytokines stimulate?

Answer 25

mitosis and maturation of leukocyte

Question 26

What test allows you to differentiate between infection types?

Answer 26

differential white cell count

Question 27

What are platelets?

Answer 27

membrane bound cell fragments

Question 28

What is platelet formation governed by?

Answer 28

thrombopoietin

Question 29

What do platelets do?

Answer 29

adhere to damaged vessel walls and exposed connective tissue. mediate blood clotting

Question 30

What is haematocrit?

Answer 30

percentage of blood made up by red blood cells

Question 31

What is viscosity?

Answer 31

how thick/sticky blood is compared to water

Question 32

What is the viscosity of blood dependent on?

Answer 32

• haematocrit
• temperature- increase decreases viscosity and vice versa
• flow rate - decreased flow rate increases viscosity and vice versa