Blood and Blood Vessels

in Cardiovascular System
from The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and
Disorders
View article on Credo
Blood is a collection of specialized cells suspended in a straw-coloured liquid called plasma. Blood
delivers oxygen and nutrients to body cells, collects waste, distributes hormones, spreads heat around
the body to control temperature, and plays a part in fighting infection and healing injuries.

What is blood?
Blood forms about one-twelfth of the body weight of an adult, amounting to about 5 litres (11 pints) in
volume. Roughly 50–55 per cent of blood is plasma, the liquid-only portion in which cellular components
are distributed. Plasma is 90 per cent water containing dissolved substances such as glucose (blood
sugar), hormones, enzymes, and also waste products such as urea and lactic acid. Plasma also contains
proteins such as albumins, fibrinogen (important in clotting), and globular proteins or globulins. Alpha and
beta globulins help to transport lipids, which are fatty substances such as cholesterol. Gamma globulins
are mostly the disease-fighting substances known as antibodies. The remaining 45– 50 per cent of
blood is made up of three types of specialized cells. Red cells or erythrocytes carry oxygen; various
white cells, known as leucocytes, are part of the defence system; and cellular fragments (platelets or
thrombocytes) are involved in the process of clotting.

P arts of blood

Blood is made up of a liquid portion (plasma), red blood cells, and a small band of platelets and white blood cells.

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 Red blood cell structure

A biconcave disc with no nucleus or discernible inner structure, each red blood cell contains 300 million haemoglobin
molecules.

Role of haem oglobin

Haemoglobin is composed of haem, an iron-rich pigment, and globin, ribbon-like protein chains. Oxygen in the lungs
latches onto haem to make oxyhaemoglobin. In this conjoined form, oxygen travels through the bloodstream to all
parts of the body.

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 Blood m ak e-up

In 1mm 3 ( 1/16,000 in3) of blood float approximately 5 million red cells, 10,000 white cells, and 300,000 platelets.
Infection can double the white cell count within hours. In capillaries, the cells may have to move in single file.

Blood groups

Every individual belongs to on of four blood groups, which are determined by markers on red blood
cells known as antigens (agglutinogens). The antigens may be either A, B, both (AB), or neither (O)
and blood groups are named correspondingly. Plasma contains different antibodies
(isohaemagglutinins). For example, a person with blood group A has plasma containing B antibodies.
If mixed with type B blood (with A antibodies in its plasma), A antibodies clump (or agglutinate) with A
antigens. This is the reason why blood types must be matched to transfuse blood safely from donor
to recipient.

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 Blood group A

Red blood cells have A antigens with B antibodies contained in the plasma.

Blood group B

Red blood cells have B antigens and the plasma contains A antibodies.

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 Blood group A B

Red blood cells have A and B antigens, with neither A nor B in plasma.

Blood group O

This lacks A and B antigens, but the plasma contains both A and B antibodies.

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Art eries
Arteries carry blood away from the heart towards organs and tissues. Apart from the pulmonary arteries,
all arteries carry oxygenated blood. Their thick walls and muscular and elastic layers can withstand the
high pressure that occurs when the heart contracts. An artery narrows when the heart relaxes, helping
to push blood onwards. The largest artery is the aorta, with a diameter of 25mm (1in); it conveys blood
from the heart at up to 40cm (16in) per second. Most other arteries have a diameter of 4–7mm ( 1/6– 1/4
in) and walls 1mm ( 1/25 in) thick.

A rtery section

Four distinct layers are found in an artery, with the blood-carrying space, called the lumen, in the centre.

Veins
A vein is more flexible than an artery and its walls are considerably thinner. The blood inside a vein is
under relatively low pressure and, as a result, it flows slowly and smoothly. Many larger veins,
particularly the long veins in the legs, contain valves that are formed from pouch-like pockets of single-
cell lining tissue (endothelium). These prevent blood flowing back down the legs, a job helped by
muscles around the veins that contract during movement. The two main veins returning blood from the
upper and lower halves of the body are known as the superior and inferior venae cavae.

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 V ein section

The muscle layer of a vein is thin and enclosed by two layers; the innermost layer of some veins has valves at regular
intervals.

Capillaries
The smallest and most numerous of the blood vessels, capillaries convey blood between arteries and
veins. A typical capillary is 1mm ( 1/25 in) or less in length, about 0.01mm ( 1/2,500 in) in diameter, and only
slightly wider than a red blood cell, which is 0.007mm ( 1/3,500 in) across. Many capillaries enter tissue to
form a capillary bed – the area where oxygen and other nutrients are released, and where waste
matter passes into the blood. At any moment, only 5 per cent of the body’s blood is travelling in
capillaries, with 20 per cent in arteries, and 75 per cent in veins.

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 Capillary bed

Capillaries connect small arteries (arterioles) to veins (venules)

Capillary section

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 The thinness of the capillary wall allows smooth, effortless movement of substances between surrounding tissues

Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited

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APA
Blood and blood vessels. (2009). In S. Parker, The human body book: an illustrated guide to its structure,
function and disorders. London, UK: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. Retrieved from
https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/dkbody/blood_and_blood_vessels/0

Chicago
"Blood and Blood Vessels." In The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and
Disorders, by Steve Parker. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2009.
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Harvard
Blood and blood vessels. (2009). In S. Parker, The human body book: an illustrated guide to its structure,
function and disorders. [Online]. London: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. Available from:
https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/dkbody/blood_and_blood_vessels/0 [Accessed 2
January 2018].

MLA
"Blood and Blood Vessels." The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and
Disorders, Steve Parker, Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 1st edition, 2009. Credo Reference,
https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/dkbody/blood_and_blood_vessels/0. Accessed 02 Jan
2018.

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