BIOM 2000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Infectious Mononucleosis, Leukopenia, Abundant Number
17 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Blood is composed of a nonliving fluid matrix (plasma) and formed elements. It is scarlet to dull red, depending on the amount of oxygen carried. Normal adult blood volume is 5 to 6 litres. Dissolved in plasma (primarily water) are nutrients, gases, hormones, wastes, proteins, salts, and so on. Plasma composition changed as body cells remove or add substances to it but homeostatic mechanisms act to keep it relatively constant. Plasma makes up 55 percent of whole blood. Formed elements, the living blood cells that make up about 45 percent of whole blood, include the following: Erythrocytes or rbcs: disc-shaped, anucleate cells that transport oxygen bound to their hemoglobin molecules. Their life span is 100 to 120 days. Leukocytes or wbcs: amoeboid cells involved in protecting the body. Platelets: cell fragments that act in blood clotting. A decrease in oxygen-carrying ability of blood is anemia.
