Average adult = 8-10 pints of blood
Functions:
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Transports nutrients, oxygen, cellular waste products,
and hormones
Aids in distribution of heat
Regulates acid-base balance
Helps protect against infection
Composition:
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PLASMA – liquid portion of blood without cellular
components
Serum – plasma after a blood clot is formed
Cellular elements are red cells, white cells and platelets
PLASMA
Straw colored, contains –
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Water
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Blood proteins
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Plasma proteins
FIBRONOGEN – necessary for blood clotting,
synthesized in the liver
ALBUMIN – from the liver, helps maintain
blood’s osmotic pressure and volume
PROTHROMBIN – a globulin which helps
blood coagulate. Vitamin K necessary for
prothrombin synthesis.
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Nutrients
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Electrolytes
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Hormones, vitamins, enzymes
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Metabolic waster products
ERYTHROCYTES
Shape = biconcave discs
HEMOGLOBIN – gives red color,
heme is iron and globin is protein.
Function = transports oxygen to tissues and carbon
dioxide away from cells
Normal – men =14-18 gm, women = 12-16 gm
Function of Hemoglobin
Red cells travel through the lungs where
O2 + hemoglobin = OXYHEMOGLOBIN
O2 is carried to tissues and released
CO2 picked up and carried back to lungs for exchange
Arterial blood – lots of oxyhemoglobin = bright red
Venous blood – lots of CO2 = dark crimson
What is carbon
monoxide poisoning?
ERYTHROPOIESIS
• Manufacture of red blood cells
• Occurs in bone marrow
Red cells live 120 days
Old cells broken down by the spleen and liver
HEMOLYSIS – rupture or bursting of erythrocyte, can be
from a blood transfusion or disease.
White Blood Cells – LEUKOCYTES
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Larger than erythrocytes
Granular or agranular
5 types
Normal leukocyte count = 3,200 – 9,800
Types of White Cells
• Neutrophils
• Eosinophils
• Basophils
• Lymphocytes
• Monocytes
GRANULOCYTE – formed in bone marrow (neutrophil,
eosinophil, and basophil)
AGRANULOCYTE – absence of cytoplasmic granules
(monocyte and lymphocyte) formed in lymph glands,
nodes and bone marrow
PHAGOCYTOSIS – process when white cells surround,
engulf, and digest harmful bacteria.
Basophils produce HEPARIN – an anticoagulant
DIAPEDESIS – when white cells move through capillary
wall into neighboring tissue.
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Body’s reaction to chemical or physical trauma
PATHOGENIC – disease producing microorganisms
can cause inflammation
Symptoms – redness, local heat, swelling and pain
Why? Bacterial toxins, increased blood flow,
collection of plasma in tissues (edema)
HISTAMINE increases the blood flow to the injured
area
PUS produced – a combination of dead tissue, dead
and living bacteria, dead leukocytes and plasma
ABSCESS – pus-filled cavity below the epidermis
PYREXIA – increase in body temperature by the
hypothalamus – in response to pathogenic invasion
LEUKOCYTOSIS – increase in the number of white
cells in response to infection
LEUKOPENIA – decrease in number of white cells
due to chemotherapy or radiation
THROMBOCYTES (Platelets)
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Smallest of solid components of blood
Synthesized in red marrow
Not cells – fragments of megakaryocytes
Necessary for the initiation of the blood clotting
process
COAGULATION
Cut or injury platelets and injured tissue release
THROMBOPLASTIN act on PROTHROMBIN in
plasma + Calcium ions converts to THROMBIN the
thrombin acts as an enzyme and changes FIBRINOGEN
FIBRIN creating a mesh that traps red blood cells,
platelets and plasma creating a blood clot.
ANTICOAGULANTS – prevent blood clotting
HEPARIN = antiprothrombin
PROTHROMBIN – dependent on Vitamin K
BLOOD TYPES
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Four major types of blood- A, B, AB and O
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Inherited from parents
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Determined by presence or absence of an ANTIGEN
on the surface of the red blood cell
ANTIBODY – a protein in the plasma that will inactivate
a foreign substance that enters the body.
Someone with type A blood has b antibodies
Someone with type B blood has a antibodies
Someone with type AB blood has no antibodies
Someone with type O blood has a and b antibodies
UNIVERSAL DONOR – O
UNIVERSAL RECIPIENT – AB
Red cells also may contain Rh factor
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If you have it, you’re Rh +
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If you don’t, you’re Rh –
When an Rh– mother is pregnant with an Rh+
baby, the baby’s blood (usually during delivery)
can mix with the mom’s blood, causing the
mom’s blood to make anti Rh antibodies.
If the mom gets pregnant again with another Rh+ positive,
her anti Rh antibodies will attack the baby’s blood,
causing ERYTHROBLASTOSIS FETALIS.
RHO Gam will destroy any baby blood cells in the mom,
and her immune system won’t produce antibodies.
DISORDERS OF THE BLOOD
ANEMIA
• Deficiency in number or % of red cells
IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA
• Usually in women, children and adolescents
• Deficiency of iron in the diet causing insufficient
hemoglobin synthesis
• Treat with iron supplements and green, leafy
vegetables
PERNICIOUS ANEMIA
• Caused by deficiency of B12 or intrinsic factor
(produced by stomach mucosa, necessary for
absorption of B12)
• Symptoms – dyspnea, pallor, fatigue and neurologic
changes
• Treatment – injections of B12
APLASTIC ANEMIA
• Bone marrow does not produce enough red and white
blood cells
• Caused by drugs or radiation therapy
SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
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Chronic blood disease inherited from both parents
Causes the red cells to form in abnormal sickle shape
Sickle cells break easily and carry less oxygen
Occurs primarily in blacks
Treatment – blood transfusions
COOLEY’S ANEMIA
• Also known as thalassemia major
• Caused by a defect in hemoglobin
• Affects people of Mediterranean descent
POLYCYTHEMIA
• Too many red blood cells are formed
• May be a temporary condition that occurs at high
altitude
EMBOLISM
• Air, blood clot, cancer cells, fat, etc. that is carried by
the bloodstream until it reaches an artery too small
for passage
• Also known as a “moving blood clot”
THROMBOSIS
• The formation of a blood clot in a blood vessel
• The blood clot is a THROMBUS
HEMATOMA
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Localized clotted mass of blood found in an organ,
tissue or space.
Caused by an injury that can cause a blood vessel to
rupture
HEMOPHILIA
• Hereditary
• Missing clotting factor
• Blood clots slow or abnormally
• Sex-linked – transmitted genetically from mothers to
sons
• Treat with missing clotting factor, avoid trauma
THROMBOCYTOPENIA
• Not enough platelets
• Blood will not clot properly
LEUKEMIA
• Malignant condition
• Overproduction of immature white blood cells
• Hinders synthesis of red cells
SEPTICEMIA
• Presence of pathogens or toxins in the blood