Blood

• Cardiovascular System - to provide oxygen, nutrients, and hormones throughout the body
• Blood - "river of life"
• Blood - only fluid tissue in the body
• Formed elements - living blood cells suspended in a nonliving fluid
• Plasma - a nonliving fluid matrix of the blood
• Buffy coat - a thin, whitish layer between the erythrocytes and the plasma; it contains the remaining formed elements
• Erythrocytes - the formed element that function in oxygen transport
• Leukocytes - the white blood cells that act in various ways to protect the body
• Platelets - cell fragments that help stop bleeding
• 45 percent - the total volume of erythrocytes in a blood sample
• Hematocrit - "blood fraction"
• 1 percent - the total volume percentage of white blood cells and platelets in a blood sample
• 55 percent - the remaining percentage volume of the blood sample where plasma makes up for
• Blood - a sticky, opaque fluid with a characteristic metallic taste
• Blood color

  - Scarlet (oxygen-rich)

  - Dull red (oxygen-poor)
• Blood's pH - 7.35 to 7.45
• Blood's Temp. - 38 degree Celsius or 100.4 degree F
• Blood accounts for approximately 8 percent of the body weight
• Plasma - liquid portion of blood that contains dissolved substances and proteins
• Plasma proteins - the most abundant solutes in plasma
• Albumin - acts as a carrier to shuttle certain molecules through the circulation
• Albumin - an important blood buffer, and contributes to the osmotic pressure of blood; acts to keep water in the bloodstream
• Clotting proteins - help stem blood loss when a blood vessel is injured
• Antibodies - help protect the body from pathogens aside from WBC
• Acidosis - blood starts to become too acidic
• Alkalosis - blood starts to become too basic
• Erythrocytes - function primarily to ferry oxygen in blood to all cells of the body
• Hemoglobin - an iron-bearing protein, transports the bulk of the oxygen that is carried in the blood
• Anemia - a decrease in the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood
• Anemia - "lacking blood"
• Sickle cell anemia - the abnormal hemoglobin formed becomes spiky and sharp when the RBCs unload oxygen molecules or when the oxygen content of the blood is lower than normal
• Blood - moves essential substances throughout the body via blood vessels
• Leukocytes - crucial to body defense against disease
• Diapedesis - a process where WBCs are able to slip into and out of the blood vessels
• Positive Chemotaxis - WBCs ability to locate infected areas in the body by responding to certain chemicals diffused from cells
• Diapedesis - "leaping across"
• Amoeboid Motion - when they form flowing cytoplasmic extensions that help move them along
• Leukocytosis - increased number of white blood cells in the blood
• Leukopenia - low white blood cell count, can be caused by infection, stress, or medications
• Granulocytes - white blood cells that contains granules