Blood and Immune - Blood Composition and Function Flashcards
How much blood does the average person have?
5L
What is the volume of blood that circulates through the heart every 24 hours?
14,000 L
How many chambers are there in the heart and what are they called?
4
Left and right ventricle
Left and right atrium
What part of the heart brings blood to the lungs?
The pulmonary artery
What brings blood from the lung to the heart?
The pulmonary vein
What are arteries made of?
Muscular capillaries with elastic vessel walls that contain an abundance of smooth muscle.
This smooth muscle allows the artery to expand and constrict through an involuntary movement
Is blood pressure higher in veins or arteries?
Arteries
Why is venous blood pressure lower than arterial?
Because veins are not elastic
What is the functions of the valves in veins?
To prevent back flow
What is systolic blood pressure?
Highest blood pressure attained in arteries
Blood is at full compression
The left ventricle is squeezed at its tightest and the artery walls are expanded at their greatest
What is the purpose of blood?
Blood provides a one-way pressurised system for the transport of oxygen, proteins glucose, lipids and essential ions required for normal cell function.
What is normal blood pressure?
120/80
What does the 120 in blood pressure mean?
Your systolic blood pressure in millimetres of mercury (120mm up the tube measuring blood pressure)
What is diastolic blood pressure?
When blood pressure is at its lowest
What does the 80 in blood pressure mean?
Diastolic blood pressure
What is hypertension?
high blood pressure
What causes hypertension?
Arteries are not expanding and contracting effectively (hardened, blocked or disease) which reduces flow and resulting in unwanted coagulation
What is a high blood pressure
above 140-150
What is the result of low blood pressure?
not enough blood going through arteries to supply tissues with blood
Common symptom of low blood pressure
fainting
What is needed to retain blood pressure?
Blood volume
What loss of blood is fatal?
over 20% because pressure and flow is impaired and the result is tissue starved of O2
Why do we need blood pressure?
to ensure even and efficient blood flow through small capillaries, low enough to prevent capillary leakage but high enough to avoid coagulation.
Main components of blood
Cells, proteins, lipids, electrolytes, vitamins and hormones, glucose
Where do myeloid and lymphoid cells come from?
multipotential stem cells
What are the two types of lymphoid cells?
B and T cells
Where do B lymphocytes come from?
Bone marrow
What is the function of B lymphocytes?
They have antibodies/immunoglobulins that give adaptive immunity
Where do T lymphocytes mature?
In the thymus
What are the 3 main cells in blood?
Erythrocytes, leukocytes, thrombocytes
What is the function of Erythrocytes
to transport oxygen to tissue
How many Erythrocytes in the body?
5-6 million/ml
What is the shape of a Erythrocyte?
It is a flat disc that has no nucleus
What is the main protein in Erythrocytes?
Haemoglobin
What is the main function of leukocytes
immune defence
What is the most common leukocyte
Neutrophil
How many leukocytes are in the body
10,000/mL
What is the function of neutrophils?
respond immediately to microbial challenge like an infection, migrate quickly from capillary tissue to the site of infection, engulf the organism
What is the function of thrombocytes?
Coagulation and tissue repair
How many thrombocytes are in the blood?
400,000/ml
What is the size of thrombocytes
1/20th of a leukocyte
what do thrombocytes do when an injury occurs?
platelets link together as a part of the blood clot to block off wound to prevent leakage of blood or fluid from damaged tissue
What are the major proteins in blood?
Albumin, haemoglobin, fibrinogen, immunoglobulins
How much of blood protein is albumin?
50%
What is the function of Albumin
Maintains colloidal osmotic pressure and hyponeiticity, Binds and transports many small molecules, hormones.
How does Albumin maintain osmotic pressure?
It acts as a “Protein sponge” that absorbs fluid in blood and allows fluid to be balanced
What is the function of haemoglobin
to carry oxygen from heart to other tissues in red blood cells
How much of blood is fibrinogen?
7% of total blood proteins
What is the function of fibrinogen?
It is cleaved in coagulation cascade to form fibrin molecules which link to form a clot (prevent tissue leakage)
What are lipids bound in?
Lipoproteins
What are the main types of lipids?
LDL, HDL, VLDL
Which lipid is bad for you?
LDL