TheDexterians
Blood is our Gold
Physiology
Function:
Blood is the primary means of transportation for the nutrients that every cell in the body needs. The first thing the blood does when it reaches the cell is give it the glucose, nutrients and oxygen that it needs. Hormones are also a very important aspect of the bodies natural functions. The part of the body that is responsible for transporting these hormones is the blood. The blood must transport wastes, such as carbon dioxide to the lungs where it is expelled from the body. Blood also has to collect metabolic wastes from all the cells of the body and return it to the kidneys for excretion. There are many infections that pose a threat to people and their vital bodily processes, one of the bodies defenses to these foreign threats is the white blood cells which produce antibodies and proteins that are capable of fighting off foreign substances. The blood contains small colorless disk-shaped cell fragments without a nucleus that are responsible for clotting to blood to limit blood loss at the sight of an injury. Blood is tasked with the regulation of various bodily processes such as: maintaining body temperature, controlling the concentration of hydrogen ions in the body (pH), homeostasis, and keeping blood pressure within a good range.
Hemoglobin:
Hemoglobin is the substance that is located on red blood cells, which is tasked with carrying the oxygen. Hemoglobin is a type of complex protein that is located in the dome shaped part of the red blood cells. A molecule of hemoglobin has four parts and is known as a quaternary structure. Two of the subunits are alpha chains and the other two subunits are known as beta chains. Each of the four subunits of hemoglobin can combine with one oxygen molecule, thus a ratio of oxygen to hemoglobin is 4:1. Hemoglobin bound to oxygen is known as oxyhemoglobin, while hemoglobin not bound to oxygen is known as deoxyhemoglobin.
There are many types of normal hemoglobin and the most common types are hemoglobin A, F, and A2. Hemoglobin A is the most common type of normal hemoglobin in adults. Hemoglobin F is also known as fetal hemoglobin and this type is usually found in fetuses and babies. Shortly after birth the type F hemoglobin is replaced by the more common hemoglobin A. The type A2 hemoglobin is also found in adults, but it is only found in small amounts. There are more than 350 abnormal types of hemoglobin. The most common of these abnormal hemoglobin are hemoglobin S, C, E, and D. Type S is usually present in hemoglobin, type C doesn’t take the oxygen well, type E is usually found in people of South East Asian descent, and type D is present in some sickle cell disorders.
The picture above is an example of normal hemoglobin.
pH Balance:
Blood has a very small pH window that it must fall between, those levels are 7.35-7.45. When your blood’s pH falls outside of the normal range it can’t take up the oxygen that cells need as easily, thus causing it to not hold as much and your cells not getting enough oxygen to survive. A person’s blood also regulates its own pH and the pH of intracellular fluids. It does this by bringing acidic and basic buffers to various fluids to get its pH within a healthy range.
Regulation and maintenance of your blood and internal environment is known as homeostasis. The constituent within your blood is kept within a very short range to ensure that cells have a constant environment. If this wasn’t kept within a short range then your cells wouldn’t have a constant environment because blood seeps out of the blood stream to bathe a person's cells. So if the blood’s composition wasn’t kept within this range, then a person’s cells would begin to die due to them not being able to function properly.
ACTIVITY
References:
Biology Reference. (n.d.). Blood. Retrieved , from http://www.biologyreference.com/Bl-Ce/Blood.html
Brewer, Sarah. The Human Body. London: Carroll & Brown Limited, 2009. Print. Hemoglobin. (n.d.). Hemoglobin. Retrieved , from http://biology.kenyon.edu/BMB/Chime/Lisa/FRAMES/hemetext.htm
Hemoglobin Electrophoresis Test, Results: Types & Levels of Hemoglobin (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved, from http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hemoglobin-electrophoresis
New Health Guide. (n.d.). Functions of Blood. Retrieved , from http://www.newhealthguide.org/Functions-Of-Blood.html
ph balance « Abundant Health Center | Blog (n.d.). Abundant Health Center Blog. Retrieved, from http://www.abundanthealthcenter.com/blog/tag/ph-balance