Based on the best selling text: An Introduction to Medical Terminology for Health Care (Fifth edition) by A.R.Hutton published by Elsevier Ltd
The interactive learning material in this unit is arranged into four sections. Click on a section and scroll down the page completing the exercises in the sequence they are presented:
Click on a section and scroll down the page completing the exercises in
the sequence they are presented.
Note: FlashCards
for revision of this unit are at the end of Section 3.
A short list of abbreviations, pathological conditions, clinical
procedures and laboratory tests associated with blood is available from
theWord Check.
Blood is a complex fluid that is classified as a connective tissue
because it contains cells plus an intercellular matrix known as plasma.The
cells carry out a variety of functions: red blood cells (erythrocytes)
transport gases whilst white blood cells (leucocytes) defend the body
against invasion by micro-organisms.
The blood cells are suspended in the plasma, the liquid part of the blood.
The plasma carries nutrients, wastes, hormones, antibodies and blood
clotting proteins that sustain life. Also suspended in the plasma are
fragments of cells called thrombocytes or platelets, these play a major
role in the formation of blood clots following injury.
Whole blood is composed of two main portions first, blood plasma a watery
liquid that contains dissolved substances and second, the formed elements
which are red and white blood cells and cell fragments called platelets.
If a sample of blood is centrifuged (spun) in a small glass tube, the
cells sink to the bottom while the lighter plasma forms a layer on top.
This is illustrated below: