Blood is one of the most important things in life. Almost every animal with a circulatory system has blood. Blood is the life-giving fluid that supplies oxygen to the body’s cells.
It is a special type of connective tissue consisting of red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells suspended in a liquid plasma matrix.
These are the basics, but there are also many surprises;
For example, about 8 percent of your body weight is blood and contains a small amount of gold.
What is Blood?
Blood is a liquid component of blood composed of plasma, red blood cells and platelets. It circulates throughout our body, providing oxygen and nutrients to various cells and organs. It makes up 8% of our body weight. An average adult has about 5-6 liters of blood.
Types of Blood Cells
- Red blood cells (Erythrocytes)
- White blood cells (Leucocytes)
- Blood Platelets (Thrombocytes)
Components Of Blood
Blood has many cell structures in its composition. The main components of blood are:
- Plasma
- Red blood cells (RBC)
- White blood cells (WBC)
- Platelets
Functions of Blood
The blood performs three major functions
- Transportation
- Protection
- Regulation of body temperature
- Regulation of the pH level of the body.
Interesting Facts about Blood
- Blood is the only connective tissue that circulates throughout the body. It also acts as a medium to transport all the essential components such as nutrients, oxygen, electrolytes, proteins, glucose hormones and other metabolic wastes.
- Blood makes up 7 to 8 percent of total body weight. Blood composition consists of two main components – plasma and manufactured products or corpuscles, which include globules (red blood cells), erythrocytes (white blood cells) and platelets.
- Important functions of blood include transport, protection against foreign attack, and regulation of pH and body temperature.
- While we humans have red blood, other species have different blood colors and this is largely determined by a protein called respiratory pigment or hemoglobin.
- Blood consists mainly of blood cells-red blood cells or blood cells, white blood cells (WBC) or leukocytes, platelets or blood platelets, and plasma which contains proteins, salts and water.
- WBC – White blood cells, also called leukocytes, play an important role in the human reproductive system, keeping the immune system healthy and forming a network of blood vessels inside the fallopian tubes.
- A healthy, adult human body contains about 1,325 gallons of blood. A single drop of blood contains millions of red blood cells, thousands of white blood cells, and millions of red blood cells.
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