The main fluid in the human body is blood, which is spread all over the body. Blood has these four main components.
- 55% of plasma
- Over 5 million red blood cells
- Over 6000-8000 per cubic millimetre of white blood cells
- Platelets
Let’s go through some functions of blood which are also going to include in this note on blood components, they are-
- Along with the lungs, nutrients and oxygen are carried to the tissues.
- To prevent more blood loss it forms blood clots.
- To protect the body from infection it carries antibodies to the cells.
- To bring waste products to the liver and kidneys, which filter and clean the blood.
- Helps in regulating body temperature.
The blood running through the veins, arteries, and capillaries is called whole blood. This blood component note also provides the information that blood consists of about 55% plasma and 45% of blood cells. Our body weight comprises 7 to 8% of blood on the whole. An average weighted woman has about 9 pints of blood in her body. 12 pints of blood is in an average weighted man.
What are the components of human blood
Many people undergo blood examinations or provide blood, but a field called haematology – the study of blood – comprises much more than this. Doctors who specialise in haematology (haematologists) are leading the much progress being made in the medication and deterrence of blood diseases.
If someone whom you care about is detected with a blood illness, your primary care medic may refer you to a haematologist for further examinations and medications.
Plasma
Plasma is the most important blood component. The portion which is liquid in nature of the blood is called plasma. Plasma is a complex fluid composed of water, sugar, fat, protein, and ions. The plasma helps create blood cells and helps with:
- Body ejecting waste products,
- Some of the nutrients,
- Blood clot component- clotting proteins,
- Defending -antibodies and
- Hormones are chemical messengers and also fluid equilibrium is maintained by proteins.
Red blood cells( erythrocytes/RBCs)
The bright red colour of red blood cells is their indicator. The most abundant cell in the blood is red blood cells. Red cells account for about nearly 40% to 45% of blood’s volume and are another most important part of this blood component.
A red blood cell looks like a biconcave disk with a flattened centre. The faces of both the discs have bowl-like shallow notches (a doughnut more or less resembles a red blood cell).
Erythropoietin controls and produces red blood cells. Erythropoietin is a hormone released by the kidneys in the body.
- The red blood cells begin in the form of naive cells inside the bone marrow. After a rough maturation of seven days, they are released into the bloodstream.
- There is no nucleus present in the RBCs. To fit in the blood vessels it adapts itself to change into any shape very smoothly.
- While the nucleus lacking makes a more adaptive red blood cell, it also puts down the period of the life of the cell. It wanders through the tiniest blood vessels by hurting the cell’s membranes and consuming its energy supplies.
- They live for 120 days.
Haemoglobin is a special type of protein present in red cells. They transport oxygen from the lungs to the entire body and subsequently gather and transport carbon dioxide from the body to the lungs to be breathed out.
Haemoglobin is the prime reason for the colouration of the blood. The presence of numerous RBCs in the human blood contains haemoglobin which gives it a red colour. The red blood cells compose a proportion of whole blood volume which is called the hematocrit and is a common criterion of red blood cell levels.
White blood cells (leukocytes)
White blood cells assist our bodies in fighting disease. They are less in number than red blood cells for nearly 1% of blood. These help to fight illnesses and help the immune process to function properly in the body.
Lymphocytes- Antibody production and cellular immune response
Monocytes- Immune surveillance
Eosinophils- Defence against parasites
Basophils- Inflammatory response
Neutrophils- Immune defences
The most familiar type of white blood cell is the neutrophil, which is the “immediate response” cell. And it comprises 55% to 70% of white blood cells in the body.
- Each neutrophil stays alive for less than a day. Bone marrow must often make new neutrophils to retain safety against illness.
- Transfusion of neutrophils is not commonly beneficial because they do not live in the body for a relatively long period.
The other important type of white blood cell is a lymphocyte. There are two main communities of these cells.
- T lymphocytes – help restrain the function of other immune cells and rapidly attack various infected cells and tumours.
- B lymphocytes – make antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that precisely victim bacteria, viruses, and additional foreign materials.
Platelets (thrombocytes)
Platelets are merely not cells unlike RBCs and WBCs but can be called small grains of cells. The blood clotting procedure is wholly controlled by the platelets (coagulation) by collecting at the area of an injury and then slicing the lining of the injured blood vessel, and the injured area has a proper space on which blood coagulates. By this, fibrin clot construction gets affected. It prevents the leaking of blood by curing the scar. The preliminary skeleton of fibrin is also generated upon which tissues newly form thus facilitating healing.
An increase in the platelet count causes unnecessary clotting of blood which can cause heart attacks and severe strokes. Due to the advancement in the field of medical science, some devices help detect these diseases. This detection mechanism or curing ability is called antiplatelet therapy. On the other hand, a low count of platelets can cause substantial bleeding.
CBC (complete blood cell count)
A CBC count is a quantity of size, number, and majority of the different blood cells in the blood sample. A CBC can be used to find difficulties with either the creation of the blood cells or the devastation of the blood cells. Deviations from the normal number, size, or majority of the blood cells can be manipulated to imply there is a disorder or disease cycle. Frequently with an infection, the number of white blood cells will be improved. Many patterns of cancer can involve the generation of blood cells. For example, a boost in the immature white blood cells in a CBC can be attributed to leukaemia. Blood diseases, particularly anaemia and sickle cell disease, will result in abnormally low haemoglobin.
Conclusion
Allegiance to proper evidence for blood component therapy is important because of the potential adverse effects and expenses of transfusion.
Data that is not present from the perspective of the study of blood component therapy. Some random studies with blood components with enough sample size, control groups for the therapies, clinical outcome measurements and other features of well-formulated clinical effectiveness research impedes the advancement of evidence-based clinical practice approaches for blood component therapy. Immunosuppressive drugs as a new potent along with biological agents are introduced into practice. There is a regular review of recommendations regarding irradiated blood components.
Regular audit of blood utilization and discard rate with simple mathematical models serve as an important tool for the accomplishment of the quality goals. Since blood centres cannot regulate demand, the stochastic need for blood components can be achieved by production, planning and improving inventory management to minimise the discard rate.