what are the different components of blood? Give the function of each of them
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Answer:
Blood:
Blood is a specialized body fluid. It has four main components: plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Plasma
The liquid component of blood is called plasma, a mixture of water, sugar, fat, protein, and salts. The main job of the plasma is to transport blood cells throughout your body along with nutrients, waste products, antibodies, clotting proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and proteins that help maintain the body's fluid balance.
Red Blood Cells (also called erythrocytes or RBCs)
Known for their bright red color, red cells are the most abundant cell in the blood. The shape of a red blood cell is a biconcave disk with a flattened center.Red cells contain a special protein called hemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and then returns carbon dioxide from the body to the lungs so it can be exhaled.
White Blood Cells (also called leukocytes)
White blood cells protect the body from infection. The other major type of white blood cell is a lymphocyte. There are two main populations of these cells. T lymphocytes help regulate the function of other immune cells and directly attack various infected cells and tumors. B lymphocytes make antibodies, which are proteins that specifically target bacteria, viruses, and other foreign materials.
Platelets (also called thrombocytes)
platelets are not actually cells but rather small fragments of cells. Platelets help the blood clotting process (or coagulation) by gathering at the site of an injury, sticking to the lining of the injured blood vessel, and forming a platform on which blood coagulation can occur. This results in the formation of a fibrin clot, which covers the wound and prevents blood from leaking out. Fibrin also forms the initial scaffolding upon which new tissue forms, thus promoting healing. A higher than normal number of platelets can cause unnecessary clotting, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks. Conversely, lower than normal counts can lead to extensive bleeding.
Blood is a liquid connective tissue. It is chiefly formed of two components:
a. Fluid matrix or plasma: It is of pale colour and transports much substance like dissolved carbon dioxide, glucose, amino acids, urea etc. has mainly water, some proteins like albumin, fibrinogen (blood clotting protein) and many other substances to be transported.
b. Cellular elements which are of three types:
(1) Red blood corpuscles (R.B.C) or erythrocytes, which transport O2 and CO2. They are enucleated, disc shaped, full of a red colored protein pigment, hemoglobin.
(2) White blood corpuscles (W.B.C) or leucocytes, which fight disease-causing agent. They are larger, nucleated and are of different types.