white blood cells

• Phagocytes


  About 70 per cent of white blood cells that engulf and destroy unwanted microorganisms that enter the blood, by the process of phagocytosis
• Phagocytes


  • Part of the body's immune system
• Lymphocytes

  Make up about 25 per cent of white blood cells, part of the body's immune system, produce soluble proteins called antibodies when a foreign body such as a microorganism enters the body
• Platelets


  Cell fragments produced by giant cells in the bone marrow that stop bleeding in two main ways: they have proteins on their surface that enable them to stick to breaks in a blood vessel and clump together, and they secrete proteins that result in a series of chemical reactions that make blood clot, which plugs a wound
• Blood products


  • Red blood cells
  • Platelets
  • Plasma
  • Antibodies
• Blood products


  Components of blood that are given to a patient by transfusion, produced from blood donors
• Patients rarely receive transfusions of whole blood in modern medicine
• Blood products are screened for infectious agents such as HIV, their blood group, and the presence of certain antibodies
• Blood for transfusion must be compatible with that of the patient's blood, for instance, their blood group
• Before a transfusion, white blood cells are often removed to reduce the risk of infections or immune reactions