• Question: what is blood not literally but what does it contain and how does it help us

    Asked by gpap08 to Amy, Sarah, Will on 21 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      Hi gpap08,

      About 8% of our weight is blood! It’s absolutely essential because it transports oxygen and nutrients to our cells and gets rid of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and other waste products. It also is a big part of our immune system and helps maintain our constant body temperature.

      Blood is actually composed of more than 4,000 different things! I’m not going to list them all, but the four of the most important ones are red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma. Red cells transport oxygen, white cells are immune system cells that defend against bugs, platelets make blood thicken when you cut yourself so you don’t bleed dry, and plasma is the liquid that these cells float about in. Plasma also contains blood clotting factors, sugars, lipids, vitamins, minerals, hormones, enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins.
      🙂 Sarah

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