Functions of Blood and Lymph
Blood is a circulatory fluid of the animal body, it helps in the transportation of oxygen, nutrients, and metabolic wastes to different parts of the body. Liquids and solids make up your blood. Plasma, the liquid component, is made up of water, salts, and protein. Plasma makes up more than half of your blood.
Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets make up the solid part of your blood. RBCs are the cells that transport oxygenated blood to our tissues and organs. White blood cells (WBC) are immune system cells that combat infection. When having a cut or a wound, platelets assisted the blood clot? The spongy material inside our bones, called bone marrow, produces new blood cells. Blood cells die all the time, and our body replaces them with new ones. Platelets have a lifespan of about 6 days and red blood cells have a lifespan of about 120 days. Some white blood cells have a lifespan of less than a day, whereas others have a significantly longer lifespan.
A, B, AB, and O are the four blood types. Blood can also be Rh-positive or Rh-negative. It's either A positive or A negative if you have type A blood. If you require a blood transfusion, knowing which type you are is crucial. In addition, if you become pregnant, your Rh factor may be essential since a mismatch between your type and the baby's type could cause complications.
Where do Blood Cells come from?
Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to blood cells, which are generated in the bone marrow through the highly regulated process of hematopoiesis. Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets can all be formed from hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells can be found in the blood and bone marrow of people of all ages, as well as in newborn babies' umbilical cords. Leukemia, lymphoma, bone marrow loss, and numerous immunological illnesses can all be treated using stem cells from any of these three sources.
What are the Compositions of Blood?
It is majorly composed of blood cells, which are RBCs and WBC's suspended in plasma. Plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are the four primary components.
Plasma
Plasma is mostly water (92% by volume) and has proteins, ions, glucose, and hormones. It distributes both nutrients and wastes around the body. Plasma's primary function is to carry blood cells, as well as nutrients, waste products, antibodies, clotting proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and proteins that help regulate the body's fluid balance, throughout the body. Albumin, the major protein of plasma. Cells and cell fragments suspended in plasma are the produced elements. Erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells), and thrombocytes (platelets) are the three types of produced elements.
Red Blood Cells
The blood cells are mainly RBC’s (red blood cells) also called erythrocytes, RBC’s have hemoglobin in them, an iron-containing protein, which helps in oxygen transport. carbon dioxide is majorly carried extracellularly as bicarbonate ion in plasma. Erythropoietin, a hormone that is produced by the kidneys, regulates red blood cell production. RBCs begin as immature cells in the bone marrow and mature over the course of around seven days before being discharged into the bloodstream.
RBCs, unlike many other cells, lack a nucleus and may quickly alter their shape, allowing them to pass through the many blood channels in your body. While the lack of a nucleus allows RBCs to be more flexible, it also restricts the cell's lifespan as it travels through the tiny blood channels, destroying its membranes and wasting its energy reserves. The typical lifespan of a red blood cell is 120 days. Hemoglobin is a unique protein found in red blood cells that helps deliver oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and later returns carbon dioxide from the body to the lungs for exhalation. The enormous quantity of red blood cells, which acquire their colour from haemoglobin, gives blood its red tint.
White Blood Cells
WBC’s (white blood cells) are also called leukocytes. The body's white blood cells defend it from infection. The make up roughly 1% of your blood and are far less numerous than red blood cells. The neutrophil, often known as the "immediate response" cell, is the most prevalent form of white blood cell, accounting for 55 to 70% of the total white blood cell count. Because each neutrophil has a short lifespan, your bone marrow must constantly produce new neutrophils in order to sustain infection defence. Neutrophil transfusions are often ineffective because neutrophils do not stay in the body for very long.
Platelets
Platelets are also called thrombocytes. Platelets, unlike red and white blood cells, are tiny pieces of cells rather than cells themselves. Platelets aid blood clotting (or coagulation) by clumping together at the site of an injury, adhering to the lining of the wounded blood vessel, and producing a platform for blood coagulation to take place. This causes a fibrin clot to develop, which plugs the wound and keeps blood from flowing out. Fibrin also serves as the first scaffolding for the formation of new tissue, which aids in the healing process.
Functions of Blood and Lymph
They are the circulatory fluids of the animal body, blood is a part of the circulatory system whereas lymph is part of the lymphatic system. Blood helps in carrying oxygen around the body to different parts and organs with the help of pigments, due to which they can be of different colours in different animals as the pigments are not always the same. Whereas lymph is a colourless liquid, found mostly in the inter-cellular spaces of a tissue. Blood has RBCs, WBC’s, platelets, and a fluid called plasma. Whereas lymph has WBC’s and watery fluid. They both have immune and also circulatory functions in them. One of the major differences between them is that blood flows through blood vessels and lymph through lymphatic vessels.
Image illustrating blood and lymph nodes
The Function of Blood
Supplying O2 to tissues and organs.
Supplying nutrients like glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids. The digestive and endocrine systems both rely heavily on blood. The capillaries in the villi that line the small intestine absorb digested nutrients into the circulation. Glucose, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids are among these nutrients. Some hormones released by endocrine system glands are also transported by the blood to target organs and tissues.
Removal of metabolic wastes like CO2, urea, and lactic acid and blood transports oxygen to the body's cells and removes carbon dioxide.
Immunological functions are the circulation of WBC's, the detection of foreign particles with the aid of antibodies.
Coagulation, is the response to the broken blood vessel, by conversion of blood to a semisolid gel for prevention of blood loss. Platelets and plasma proteins work together to limit blood loss when a blood vessel tears. Platelets, also known as thrombocytes, cluster together in the injured area and form a clog. To finish the platelet plug or clot, the proteins produce fibrin threads.
Transport of substances like hormones and signalling of tissue damage
Maintaining homeostasis.
Lymph
Lymph is another type of circulatory fluid of the animal body, it flows through the lymphatic system, which consists of lymph nodes, lymph vessels. Lymph is a pale fluid that bathes an organism's tissues, maintaining fluid balance and removing pathogens; it enters the circulatory system through lymphatic channels and ducts. Lymph is predominantly propelled through lymphatic vessels in mammals by the massaging effect of muscles surrounding the vessels. The lymphatic channels in animals smaller than mammals include muscular swellings called lymph hearts at intervals to pump lymph through them.
What are the Compositions of Lymph?
It is majorly composed of interstitial fluid. i.e., the fluid that lies in the interstitial spaces of all body tissues, which is collected through lymph capillaries. It is similar to blood plasma, i.e. the fluid component of blood. Lymph brings back proteins and excess interstitial fluid into the bloodstream. It also transports fats in the blood in the form of chylomicrons. Lymph leaving the lymph node is richer in lymphocytes. lymph formed in the digestive system is called chyle and is rich in triglycerides, it looks milky white cause of its high lipid content. Lymph is mainly composed of lymph plasma, lymph corpuscles, and lymphoid organs. The following is a list of all of Lymph's components:
Lymph Plasma
It contains less calcium, fewer blood proteins, less phosphorus, and has a higher glucose level. In addition, lymphoma plasma contains natural antibodies called globin proteins. Organic and inorganic compounds are among the other substances.
Lymph Corpuscles
Lymph corpuscles are made up of leukocytes and amoeboid cells, both of which are lymphocytes. There are no red blood cells or platelets in the lymph.
Lymphoid Organs
The lymphatic system is made up of many types of lymph nodes throughout the body. Lymphatic veins connect these lymph nodes to the lymphatic system, which transports lymph throughout the body. The lymph nodes are in charge of purifying the blood.
The spleen, tonsils, adenoids, and thymus are among the organs that make up the lymphatic system. The spleen is the biggest lymphatic organ in the body, placed behind the ribcage or above the stomach, and most conspicuously in the left upper quadrant of the human abdomen. Other lymphatic system components include the tonsils, adenoids, and thymus, which are positioned on each side of the throat and neck.
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Functions of Lymph
It keeps the cells of the body wet.
It is responsible for the removal of interstitial fluid from tissues
absorbs and transports fats as chyle from the digestive system
transports WBC’s to and from lymph nodes into bones
it transports antigen-presenting cells, like dendritic cells to lymph nodes where immune response occurs.
Similarities between Blood and Lymph
Both of them are types of circulatory fluids.
Both of them circulate within vessels.
Both of them have an immune function in the body.
They are both joined together by a system of capillaries.
Difference between Blood and Lymph
Both are two circulatory fluids of the body, Blood moves via blood vessels, and lymph moves via lymphatic vessels. Blood transports gases, nutrients, and metabolic wastes. Lymph is draining of tissue fluid into the circulatory system. The major difference between blood and lymph is their function in the body.
FAQs on Difference Between Blood and Lymph
1. What is the location of lymphatic fluid?
The lymphatic vessels empty their contents into collecting ducts, which flow into the two subclavian veins beneath the collarbones. The superior vena cava, a big vein that drains blood from the upper body into the heart, is formed when these veins connect.
2. What would happen if the lymphatic system didn't function properly?
The lymphatic system removes infection and maintains a healthy balance of body fluids. Fluid builds up in your tissues and creates swelling, which is known as lymphedema if it isn't working properly. Infections, blockages, and tumours can all affect the lymphatic system.
