The blood Flashcards
What are the components of blood? (%)
Plasma (55%)
Red blood cells (45%)
White blood cells (less than 1%)
Platelets (less than 1%)
What is plasma?
The liquid component of the blood
What is plasma made out of?
Mostly water
What does plasma do?
Transports red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, hormones, anitbodies, nutrients, and waste produced during cellular respiration (urea, carbon dioxide)
What is the most common of the solid components of the blood?
Red blood cells
What shape are red blood cells?
Biconcave
Why are red blood cells flexible?
In order to squeeze into small blood vessels like capillaries or turn sharp corners
What happens when blood cells are deformed? What is this called?
They accumulate and block blood flow causing a clot
Sickle cell anemia
How long do RBC live?
What produces them?
120 days
Bone marrow
What is hemoglobin?
What does it do?
A protein
Helps to transport oxygen, carbon dioxide, and gives the blood its red colour
What gives the blood its bright red colour?
When a red blood cell reaches the alveoli in the lungs, it releases its carbon dioxide and picks up a fresh load of oxygen
What gives the blood a brownish red colour?
When a red blood cell reaches a body cell, it releases its oxygen and picks up the cell’s waste (carbon dioxide)
What does it indicate when blood is shown as blue?
It is blood without oxygen (it is not actually blue)
Why does blood inside your body look blue?
Dark red blood (deoxygenated) does not reflect light as well as bright red blood (oxygenated). The optical illusion is caused by our eyes interpreting this dark red blood through the white veins surrounding it and our translucent skin.
What are platelets made of?
Pieces of red blood cells
What shape are platelets? Do they have a nucleus?
How long do they live?
They do not have a defined shape
They do not have a nucleus
They live for about 10 days
What do platelets help to do?
They help in the clotting/coagulation process, healing an injury by accumulating in the damaged area of a blood vessel and produce fibrin filaments to help seal the wound
What do platelets produce?
Why?
Fibrin filaments
To help seal the wound
What is special about white blood cells compared to other blood cells?
They are the only blood cells that have a nucleus
What shape are white blood cells?
How big are they?
They have a rounded shape
They are bigger than red blood cells
What happens when there is an infection?
The number of white blood cells increase
What do white blood cells do?
They protect the body; some neutralize pathogens (bacteria, viruses) and others get rid of dead or damaged cells
