Functions of Blood Flashcards

Vocabulary practice cards covering the components, transportation roles, and defense mechanisms of blood based on the lecture material.

Blood

A fluid connective tissue composed of cellular elements and an extracellular matrix that assumes the shape of its container and connects multiple tissues.

Formed elements

The collective term for the cellular elements of blood, identifying erythrocytes, leukocytes, and cell fragments called thrombocytes.

Erythrocytes

The cellular elements of blood also known as red blood cells (RBCs).

Leukocytes

White blood cells (WBCs) that protect the body from external threats like bacteria and destroy internal threats such as mutated DNA or virus-infected cells.

Thrombocytes

Cell fragments known as platelets that interact with plasma proteins to form blood clots and prevent further blood loss from ruptured vessels.

Plasma

The fluid extracellular matrix of blood, which is mostly water; it perpetually suspends the formed elements to enable circulation throughout the cardiovascular system.

Primary function of blood

To deliver nutrients to and remove wastes from body cells.

Homeostasis

The maintenance of stable internal conditions, including the regulation of body temperature, electrolyte levels, and $pH$.

Liver

The organ where nutrients absorbed from the digestive tract are processed and released back into the bloodstream, and where waste products are transported for excretion via bile.

Waste excretion

The process by which blood transports cellular wastes and byproducts to the kidneys or liver for removal as urine or bile.

Carbon dioxide

A cellular waste byproduct ($CO_2$) transported by blood to the lungs for exhalation from the body.

Blood clot

A blockage of ruptured blood vessels formed by the interaction of thrombocytes and certain proteins dissolved in the plasma.