Let's Experience France as a Chapter Overview

"When Paris sneezes, Europe catches cold." This nineteenth century phrase depicts the stature of France after the French Revolution. In 1792, the Revolution ended the Divine Right of Kings and placed authority in the hands of the people. The French Revolution was a very bloody civil war. Rivers of blood flowed from the infamous guillotine which was used to "humanely" execute thousands. You may surmise that this chapter is about blood.

The France of today has a myriad of treasures. One of the most beautiful church in the world, the Cathedral of Chartres; the magnificent palace of Versailles (minus 10,000 trees); the impressive memorial, the Arc de Triomphe; the inspirational masterpieces of the Louvre and D'Orsay museums; as well as the Frenchmen's oil, the wines, the champagnes and the cognacs. You also have some internal treasures, these great monuments are as individual as your own blood cells. You will learn the impressive functions of the erythrocytes, the neutrophils, the eosinophils, the basophils, the lymphocytes and the monocytes in this chapter.

These cells are transported in a river of plasma flowing throughout the body. Rivers are the sinews of French economic health. The country is bathed by inland waterways that serve to transport goods. These are connected by canals to the principle river system, the Seine River. Of course, the Seine River flows gently through the "heart" of Paris.

The Parisians are known for their "joie de vivre." Their enthusiam makes living an art, their laughter is filled with energy and vitality. These characteristics are similar to the blood that bathes the body with the nutrients that provide energy. This little introduction to the blood does not do justice to the abundance of riches in France, but it should impress you with the importance and interest given this section of the cardiovascular system.

Part 1. Contents of the Blood
    A. Plasma
    B. Cellular component: erythrocytes

1. Blood: Is it really thicker than water?_______________
    What is the volume of blood in your body?___________

2. List the function of the blood related to the Respiratory System.
    _____________________________________________________________

3. Identify four other functions of blood.
    a.______________________________________________________
    b._______________________________________________________
    c._______________________________________________________
    d._______________________________________________________

4. Identify the chemicals dissolved in blood plasma. The non-cellular liquid portion of the blood is called plasma. (You can guess its color because later on you will learn that some plasma becomes urine.) You can learn the important solutes in plasma by answering the following:

1. 92% of plasma ______________________.
2. The protein responsible for osmotic pressure is ___________.
3. Antibodies in plasma are called _________________________.
4. The secretions from endocrine glands that are released directly into plasma are _____________________________.
5. The electrolytes carried by plasma include _______, _______, ______, _______, _______, _______, ________, and ________.
6. Urea, uric acid, aluminum salts, and creatinine are collectively called ____________________________________.
7. Nutrients carried in plasma are ________________________, ______________________, and __________________________.
8. The clotting proteins in plasma are ______________________ and __________________________________.

5. After reading the paragraph on hemopoiesis, explain, in your own words, the role stem cells.
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________
    _____________________________________________________________

6. Describe four important characteristics of a RBC.

1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________

7. Describe the structure of the hemoglobin molecule. The hemoglobin molecule is paramount to the functions of the red blood cell. To understand this protein, list the importance of each of the following components.

globin
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

heme
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

iron
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

8. Review oxygen saturation in Chapter 23, then describe the characteristics of the red blood cell and hemoglobin that make 97% saturation possible.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

9. RBC's contain carbonic anhydrase. Explain, in your own words, the role of this enzyme in respiration.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Lewis Carroll wrote about the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. The nonsense sentences spoken are attributed to the hatter's inhaling mercury and other heavy metals which accumulate in the bone marrow, interfere with the normal production of red blood cells, and cause brain damage.

10. Erythrocyte! "This is your Life."
      Use the following list to fill in the life cycles of erythrocytes below.

I was born (left the bone marrow) without a _________________, hence, after _______ days, I cannot replace my worn out ___________. If there were a nursing home in the body, I would retire. Instead,_________________ from the ruddy liver, squishy spleen, and clumpy bone marrow put me out of my misery. In these days of recycling, my parts are useful. Globin, a protein, can be hydrolyzed into ____________________; ____________ will be used to form new hemoglobin; only the non-iron containing pigment _____ must be thrown out in bile as ____________________.

My life began in the ___________ bone marrow of flat bones, bodies of vertebrae, and the ____________________ of the humerus and femur. There, I differentiated from a _______________________ into a proerythroblast. After all the early stages of development, finally my nucleus disintegrated and I became a _________________. What an exciting childhood! 2,000,000 of my siblings entered the blood stream with me, this occurs every second. We frolicked for four months, grabbng oxygen, carbon dioxide, and converting carbon dioxide into _______________________.

I have never been lonesome, there are __________________ red blood cells in every cubic millimeter of blood. Furthermore, if there is a reduced amount of oxygen in the blood called ________________, the physiological response is the secretion of the hormone _______________________ to stimulate the production of even more RBC's. In the normal human body there is a lifetime continuous process of production and destruction of red blood cells, if one becomes ill, either production or destruction takes over.

The End

12. Explain the causes and symptoms of anemia. Are you pale; do you tire easily; do you need to turn up the heat in the dog days of August? You might have anemia! Give a general description of each of the anemias listed below, explaining how either production or destruction is interrupted.

Pernicious Anemia
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Hemorrhagic anemia
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Hemolytic Anemia
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Aplastic Anemia
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Sickle Cell Anemia
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Focus Question
Prepare an essay about production = destruction: compare the production of red blood cells with their destruction.

Part 2: Contents of the blood
    A. Cellular component: leucocytes
    B. Cellular chips: thrombocytes

13. Leucocytes differ from RBC's because their color is _____________ ( no hemoglobin), they have strange looking _____________________ (their trademark), and are fewer in number (only_____________________ per cubic millimeter of blood).

14. List the normal percentages for each type of leukocyte in a differential count. The outline below lists the classification of leukocytes, in the spaces provided, list the normal range for each cell type in a differential white count.

1. Granulocytes
    a. Neutrophils ______________
    b. Eosinophils ______________
    c. Basophils _______________

2. Agranulocytes
    a. Lymphocytes ______________
    b. Monocytes ________________

                                ______________% WBC total

15. Identify the charcteristics and functions of the leukocytes. To understand the structure/function of these cell types, write in the name of the leukocyte next to the descriptions.

______________________ a. polymorphonuclear

______________________ b. reddish-orange granules in the cytoplasm

______________________ c. large round nucleus with a rim of cytoplasm

______________________ d. has a nucleus shaped as a kidney

______________________ e. dark blue granules hide the cytoplasm

______________________ f. active phagocytes

______________________ g. fixed or wandering macrophages

______________________ h. contain antibiotic defensins

______________________ i. numbers increase during allergies and parasitic infections

______________________ j. release histamine and heparin to promote inflammation

______________________ k. produce antibodies

______________________ l. increase in number with bacterial infections

______________________ m. increase in number with viral infections and certain leukemias

16. Identify the blood fragment that is a "chip off the old megakaryocyte." _____________________________________.

17. List two the functions of blood platelets.

1. ______________________________ damaged blood vessels
2. promote __________________________________________.

Focus Question
Summarize the structure/function relationship of the formed elements of the blood.