Unit 3: Blood
Unit outline
Part 2: Production of the Formed Elements
- Vascular Spasm
- Formation of the platelet plug
- Coagulation
- Clotting factors involved in coagulation
- Fibrinolysis
- Plasma anticoagulants
- Disorders of clotting
Practice Questions
Learning Objectives
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
I. Describe the general nature and functions of blood, specify the main components of blood and describe the importance of each.
II. Describe the production of the formed elements of blood.
III. Describe the major factors that stimulate the body to produce more erythrocytes.
IV. Specify the two main components of blood that give blood its viscosity, and describe the importance of each to the blood.
V. Define hemostasis and describe the mechanisms involved in achieving hemostasis: vascular spasm, platelet plug formation, blood clotting.
VI. Describe how the process of blood clotting is regulated, particularly with respect to prevention of blood clotting when it is not required, rapid initiation and progression of blood clotting when damage occurs, localization of blood clotting to the damaged region, and the dissolution of blood clots (fibrinolysis).
Learning Objectives and Guiding Questions
At the end of this unit, you should be able to complete all the following tasks, including answering the guiding questions associated with each task.
I. Describe the general nature and functions of blood, specify the main components of blood and describe the importance of each.
- How do the functions of blood contribute to homeostasis?
- What are the formed elements of blood?
- Describe the composition of plasma, and list at least three plasma proteins.
II. Describe the production of the formed elements of blood.
- Describe the origin, site(s) of production, structure and function of erythrocytes.
- Describe the structure and function of hemoglobin.
- Briefly explain how to determine the hematocrit of a blood sample, then explain:
- What specific information does it give you about an individual’s blood?
- What can that information be used to determine?
- Describe the origin, site(s) of production, structure and function of each leukocytes.
- List the types of leukocytes (white blood cells), their origins and relative quantities in normal blood (I.e. most common to least common)
- Describe in detail the function(s) of the five types of leukocytes. Be sure to include the 2 main subtypes of lymphocyte in your answer.
- What is a differential count? What information can it provide?
- Why are neutrophils found in high numbers in people recovering from burn injuries? What could be consequences of an abnormally low neutrophil count?
- How does one of the functions of eosinophils explain their high counts in individuals fighting a parasitic worm infestation?
- How would allergies affect the basophil count? Explain why.
- Why is a low lymphocyte count observed in individuals with an active HIV infection? Why is this a dangerous situation?
- Bone mar