The Cardiovascular System
By: Laura Neumann
Overall Blood Characteristics
-Blood is thick and flows slow
-The temperature is 100.4 degrees
-8% of your total body weight
-Your blood volumes are for females: 4-5 liters, and males: 5-6 liters
-55% of your blood is plasma
-99% of your blood is erythrocytes
How much blood is made and where is it made in the body?
-All blood cells begin in the bone marrow, including red bone marrow
How much blood is in our body?
-An average adult body that has a weight of 150-180 lbs contains approximately 4.7 to 5.5 liters or 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood
Red Blood Cells
-Most common type
-Has a circular biconcave shape so it can increase surface area to volume ratio and increases absorption efficiency
-Mature red blood cells have no nucleus which creates more space for hemoglobin so more oxygen can be carried
-It is flexible so it can travel easily through the thin capillaries
-There is about 40 to 45% of blood in the red blood cells
-They transport oxygen and carbon dioxide
White Blood Cells
-Fights infection
-Only makes up for 1% of your blood
-There are many fewer white blood cells than there are red blood cells
-Most common type is the neutrophil
-Another major type is the lymphocyte
-They typically look like a textured white ball
Platelets
-Assists blood clotting
-Also called thrombocytes
-Not cells but are small fragments of them
-They look like an orange tire
-55% of blood volume
Plasma
-The function of plasma is separating the liquid part of the blood from the cells. The plasma membrane regulates what moves in and out of the cell
-Plasma is a liquid part of blood and most often you can see it when you get a scrape on your skin. It is a pale yellow color and is in a liquid state
Vocabulary
Plasma: Liquid part of the blood
Plasma protein: Any of several proteins normally found in the plasma which includes albumins, globulins, and fibrinogen
Serum: Blood plasma minus its clotting factors, still contains antibodies
Albumins: One of several types of proteins normally found in blood plasma which helps thicken the blood
Globulins: A type of plasma that includes antibodies
Fibrinogen: Soluble blood protein that is converted to insoluble fibrin during clotting
Prothrombin: A protein present in normal blood that is required for blood clotting
Red Blood Cells: Most common type of blood cell
Erythrocyte: Red blood cell
Hemoglobin: Iron containing protein in red blood cells
Oxyhemoglobin: Hemoglobin combined with oxygen
Carbaminohemoglobin: The compound formed by the union of carbon dioxide with hemoglobin
White blood cells: Cells of the immune system that are involved in defending the body against infections
Leukocytes: White blood cells
Neutrophils: White blood cell that stains readily with neutral dyes
Eosinophils: White blood cell that is readily stained by eosin
Basophils: White blood cell that stains readily with basic dyes
Lymphocytes: Type of white blood cell
Monocytes: A phagocyte
Macrophage: Phagocytic cells in the immune system
Granulocyte: Category of white blood cells characterized by the presence of granules in cytoplasm
Agranulocyte: White blood cells with a one lobed nucleus
Platelets: A small colorless disked shape cell fragment without a nucleus
Thrombocytes: Also called a platelet and plays a role in blood clotting
Prothrombin activator: A protein formed by clotting factors from damaged tissue cells and platelets
Thrombin: Protein important in blood clotting
Fibrinogen: Soluble blood protein that is converted to insoluble fibrin during clotting
Fibrin: Insoluble protein in clotted blood
Coagulation: A process in which liquid blood is changed into a semisolid mass or otherwise known as a blood clot
Thrombus: Stationary blood clot
Thrombosis: Formation of a clot in a blood vessel
Embolus: A blood clot or other substance that is moving in the blood and may block a blood vessel
Embolism: Obstruction of a blood vessel by foreign matter carried in the blood stream
Blood types
White blood cells
All the different types of blood cells
Corrections
How is blood made?
Bone Marrow produces blood cells that Is called red bone marrow and red bone marrow which no longer produces blood cells is called yellow bone marrow. All blood cells come from the same kind of stem cell that has potential to turn into any kind of blood cell.
Function of Plasma and how it maintains homeostasis
-Plasma membrane regulates what moves in and out of cell. It moves things through ion channels (one way). Fluid nature of cell membrane allows transportation of molecules in and out. If flexibility of plasma membrane is lost, the abnormal cell function will start. If this happens, homeostasis of the cell is disrupted. Research suggests certain enzymes determine how flexible a plasma membrane is.
-Plasma maintains a satisfactory blood pressure and volume to supply critical proteins for blood clotting and also immunity. It serves also as a medium for exchange of minerals that are very important like sodium and also potassium which helps maintain a proper pH balance in the body that is very critical to the cell function. Plasma is obtained by separating liquid portion of blood from cells.
What do WBC's look like?
-Look like a textured white ball. Hard to see when scientists look under the microscope for them and they have to be stayed with bright colored dye for a clear view