Blood and Circulatory System
Human Blood
The blood constitutes 7% of the total weight of the human's body.
Its pH value is nearly 7.4, so it is considered base in nature.
There is an average of 5-6 litres of blood in the human body.
Blood consists of two parts: -
1. Plasma
2. Blood Corpuscles
(1) Plasma
It is the liquid part of blood.
It constitutes 60% part of the blood.
The plasma has 90% water, 7% protein, 0.9%
salt and 0.1% is glucose.
Its main function is to Transport of digested
food, hormones, the excretory product from
one part of the body to another part of the
body.
When Fibrinogen & Protein is extracted out of
plasma, the remaining plasma is called serum.
(2) Blood Corpuscles
It constitutes 40% part of the blood/
This is divided into three parts:
1. Red Blood Corpuscles (RBC)
The nucleus is absent from it. Exception -
Camel and Lama.
It is formed in Bone Marrow (At the embryonic
stage its formation takes place in the liver.)
Lifespan- 120 days.
RBCs destruction takes place in the spleen, so
it is called grave of RBC.
It contains haemoglobin, in which
haeme is iron-containing compound.
Due to the presence of haemoglobin colour of
blood is red.
Globin is a proteinous compound which is
extremely capable of combining with oxygen
and carbon dioxide.
The iron compound found in haemoglobin is
haematin.
Function- to carry oxygen to all cells of the body and bring back the carbon dioxide.
Anaemia disease is caused due to the deficiency of haemoglobin.
At the time of sleeping RBC is reduced by 5% and people who are at the height of 4200
metres RBC increases by 30% in them.
2. White Blood Corpuscles (WBC) or Leucocytes
Its formation takes place in Bone Marrow, lymph node and sometimes in liver and spleen.
Lifespan: 2-5 days.
The nucleus is present in the WBC.
Function- to protect the body from the disease.
The ratio of RBC and WBC is 600:1.
It consists of Granulocytes and Agranulocytes.
Granulocytes consist of Neutrophils, Eosinophils, and Basophils.
Agranulocytes consists of lymphocytes and monocytes.
3. Blood Platelets or Thrombocytes
Found only in the blood of human and other mammals.
The nucleus is absent in it.
Its formation takes place in the Bone marrow.
Lifespan- 10 to 15 days.
It dies in the Spleen.
Function- to help in the clotting of blood
Functions of Blood:
To control the temperature of the body and to protect the body from diseases.
Transportation of oxygen, Carbon dioxide, digested food, conduction of hormones etc
To help in establishing coordination among different parts.
Clotting of blood
Following reactions take place during clotting-
(a) Thromboplastin + Prothrombin + Calcium = Thrombin
(b) Thrombin + Fibrinogen = Fibrin
(c) Fibrin + Blood Corpuscles = Clot
Vitamin K is helpful in blood clotting.
Blood Group of Human
Blood group was discovered by Landsteiner in 1900.
For this, he was awarded Nobel Prize in the year 1930.
The main reason behind the difference in the blood of the human is the glycoprotein
which is found in Red Blood Corpuscles called an antigen.
The antigen is of two types- Antigen A and Antigen B.
On the basis of the presence of Antigen or Glyco Protein, there are four groups of blood
in human:
That contains Antigen A - Blood Group A.
That contains Antigen B- Blood Group B.
That contains both the Antigen A and B - Blood Group AB.
That contains neither of the Antigens- Blood Group O.
An opposite type of protein is found in blood plasma. This is called an antibody. This is
also of two types- Antibody "a" and Antibody "b".
Blood Group O is called the Universal Donor because it does not contain any antigen.
Blood Group AB is called Universal Recipient because it does not contain any antibody
Heparin is an anti-coagulant which is present in the blood which assures smooth blood
flow in the vessels.
Blood Antigen Antibodies
Group group group
(in RBCs) (in Plasma)
A A Anti-B A, O A, AB
B B Anti-A B, O B, AB
AB A, B nil A, B, AB, O AB
O nil Anti-A, Anti- O A, B, AB, O
B
Circulatory System
It is an essential mechanism required for flow and exchange of nutrients, gases waste materials
and other essential substances inside the animals. Circulatory systems are of two types Open
Circulatory system and Closed Circulatory System. Human being possesses Close circulatory
system where blood flows through a closed nexus of blood vessels in contrary to open
circulatory system where blood flows in open spaces.
It contains four parts
1) Heart
2) Arteries
3) Veins
4) Blood
The discovery of blood circulation system was made by William Harvey.
Points to remember:
Biological term of the heart is
It remains safe in the pericardial membrane.
Its weight is approximately 300 grams for male and 250 gms for female.
The human heart is a four-chamber heart.
