Blood is a bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such

as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from
those same cells.
In vertebrates, it is composed of blood cells suspended in blood plasma. Plasma, which
constitutes 55% of blood fluid, is mostly water (92% by volume),
[1]
and contains
dissipated proteins, glucose, mineral ions, hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the
main medium for excretory product transportation), and blood cells
themselves. Albuminis the main protein in plasma, and it functions to regulate the
colloidalosmotic pressure of blood. The blood cells are mainly red blood cells(also called
RBCs or erythrocytes) and white blood cells, including leukocytes and platelets. The
most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells. These contain hemoglobin,
an iron-containing protein, which facilitates transportation of oxygen by reversibly
binding to this respiratory gas and greatly increasing its solubility in blood. In contrast,
carbon dioxide is almost entirely transported extracellularly dissolved in plasma
asbicarbonate ion.
Vertebrate blood is bright red when its hemoglobin is oxygenated. Some animals, such
as crustaceans and mollusks, use hemocyanin to carry oxygen, instead of
hemoglobin. Insects and some mollusks use a fluid called hemolymph instead of blood,
the difference being that hemolymph is not contained in a closed circulatory system. In
most insects, this "blood" does not contain oxygen-carrying molecules such as
hemoglobin because their bodies are small enough for their tracheal systemto suffice for
supplying oxygen.
Jawed vertebrates have an adaptive immune system, based largely on white blood cells.
White blood cells help to resist infections and parasites. Platelets are important in
the clotting of blood. Arthropods, using hemolymph, have hemocytes as part of
their immune system.
Blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the pumping action of
the heart. In animals with lungs, arterial blood carries oxygen from inhaled air to the
tissues of the body, and venous blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product
ofmetabolism produced by cells, from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.
Medical terms related to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (also spelledhaemo-
and haemato-) from the Greek word (haima) for "blood". In terms
ofanatomy and histology, blood is considered a specialized form of connective tissue,
given its origin in the bones and the presence of potential molecular fibers in the form
of fibrinogen.
What are the different components of blood and what do
they do?

Red cells -give blood its colour and account for 40-50% of its volume.
Their main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to all the cells of the body and remove
waste products such as carbon dioxide.
Transfusions are used to treat people with severe anaemia, those whose red blood cells do not
function adequately and people experiencing severe bleeding such as accident victims and
patients undergoing surgery.
Red cells are stored in a refrigerator and have a shelf life of up to 42 days.
Platelets -are components of blood that assist in the blood clotting process.
They are literally tiny plates that wedge together covering tears in the blood vessels and
preventing blood from leaking into surrounding tissue.
The primary use of platelets is in the treatment of people with various cancers and other
diseases such as leukaemia where the bone marrow is unable to produce adequate numbers of
platelets, as well as for people receiving medical treatments like chemotherapy which can
decrease a person's platelet count. Platelets are also used to treat people suffering severe blood
loss.
Platelets are stored at room temperature and have a shelf life of only 5 days. This is why it is
vital to have a constant flow of blood donations coming in.
Plasma- is the straw coloured fluid in which the red cells, white cells and platelets are suspended.
Plasma is the most versatile component of blood as it can be processed into a variety of products
and each product can be used to treat a number of potentially life-threatening conditions.
Plasma is stored frozen and has a shelf life of up to 12 months