riding on the red road

8/3/2019 Riding on the Red Road

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So, that is the

short story of my

life as a red blood

cell which exist in

human blood.

I perform the

most important job

in our body. I travel

through human body

to deliver oxygenand remove waste.

If I not exist, hu-

man body would

slowly die.

I am red in

colour only because I

contain a protein

chemical called he-

moglobin which is

bright red in color.Hemoglobin contains

the element Iron,

making it an excel-

lent vehicle for

transporting oxygen

and carbon dioxide.I c i r c u l a t e d

throughout human

body by passes

through the lungs, so

oxygen molecules at-

tach to the hemoglo-

bin. Then, when Ipasses through the

body's tissue, the

hemoglobin releasesthe oxygen to the

cells. The empty he-

moglobin molecules

then bond with the

tissue's carbon diox-

ide or other wastegases, transporting

it away.

Over time, I

get worn out and

eventually die. The

average life cycle of

me is only 120 days.

Human bones are

continually producingme, to make sure

supply is enough.

However, I am not

being remade all of

the time because I

also can recirculatedthroughout human

body.

Red blood cells

Who am I?

Co n t e n t s :

Who am I? 1

A New of Me 2

Am I Gener-

ous?2

The Journeythrough TheRiver of Life

3

Distribution

and Flow of Me4

The End of My

Life4

Red Blood Cells: Riding

on The Red Road1 4 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 1V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 4

R e d b l o o d

c e l l s :

k n o wn a serythrocytes

most abun-

dant cells inthe blood-

stream

b i n c o n c a v e

disc in shape

contain hemo-

globin

6 to 8 mi-crometers in

diameter and

a v e r a g e

thickness of2 microme-ters

male adult

has about 5million red

blood cells

and femaleadult has

about 4.5

million red

b l o o d

c e l l s p e r

cubic millili-

ter of blood

l i f e s p anabout 120

days

Hemoglobin molecule

SOME FACTS

ABOUT BLOOD:

Seven percent of ahumans body weight is

made up of blood

If all the blood vesselsin your body were laid

end to end, they wouldreach about 60,000

miles

Blood is such a goodstain that NativeAmericans used it for

paint

By donating just onepint of blood, four

lives can be saved


2/4

R e d B l o o d C e l l s : R i d i n g o n T h e R e d R o a d

lum in cytoplasm

when stained. A small

number of reticulo-

cytes (only 1 to 3%of the circulating

red cells) are found

in the circulation.

7. Mature erythro-

cytes - At this final

stage of maturation

where there is a loss

of ribosomes.

Lastly, I bornhappily to do my job

and enter the circu-

lation.

erythropoiesis hemo-

globin synthesis be-

gins.

4. Intermediate

erythroblasts - At

this time, the accu-

mulation of hemoglo-bin due to its contin-

ued synthesis hap-

pen.

5. Late erythro-

blasts - During thisstage the nucleus isforce out from the

cell.

6. Reticulocyte - Iexhibit a net-like ap-

pearance or reticu-

I born through the

process of erythro-

poiesis which takes

about four days.Here are some steps

to produce me;

1. Hemocytoblasts -Stem cells in the

bone marrow from

which me form.

2. Proerythroblasts -

I produced by thedivision and differ-entiation of stem

cells.

3. Basophilic (early)erythroblasts - Dur-

ing this stage in

A New of Me

stored for use in

emergency situa-

tions.

Initially after

transfer blood, thedonor may feel some

momentary light-

headedness due to

the loss of oxygen-

rich of me and blood

sugar. But, the body

can quickly stabilizes

itself later.

Am I Generous?

Since the human

body is continu-

ally making more

me, it is safe for

healthy adults to

donate blood.

Then, blood be

Blood

donation

P a g e 2

Bone marrow


3/4

The Journey through The River of Life

P a g e 3V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 4

I start my journey aroundthe body by leaving the left

ventricle through the aorta.

At this stage I am rich in

oxygen.

After giving rise to

the coronary arteries, the

aorta passes upward beforedoubling back on itself in an

arch. Originating from this

arch are the two main ar-teries to the head, the left

and right carotid arteries,and one artery to each arm.

The aorta descends down

the chest and into the ab-

domen.

In the abdomen

there are three main arter-ies to the intestines and the

liver, and one to each kidneybefore the aorta divides

into the left and right ar-

teries which supply some ofme to the pelvis and the

legs.

The arterial system

From the arteries I flow

into the smaller arterioleswhich lead to every organand tissues in the body in-

cluding the heart itself, and

then enters the vast net-

work of capillaries.

In the capillaries, I jostle

along in single file, giving upoxygen and other sub-stances and taking in carbon

dioxide andother waste

products.

When the bodyrests, I tend

t o f l o w

through so-called preferential, or pre-ferred, channels. These are

capillaries that have become

larger than average. But ifextra oxygen is needed by I

flow through nearly all the

capillaries in that area.

A f t e r p a s s i n gthrough the capillaries from

the arteries, I enter the

venous system. First, I passinto very small vessels

called venules which are thevenous equivalent of arteri-

oles. Then I make my way

into small veins and backtowards the heart along

veins which are larger

enough to be seen under theskin. Veins of this size con-tain valves which prevent

me from flowing back to-

wards the tissues. Thevalves have little half-moonshaped cups projecting into

me flow in only one direc-

tion.

All the veins fromthe various parts of the

body eventually merge intotwo larger blood vessels,one called the superior, the

other called the inferior

vena cava. The fist collectsme from the head, arms and

neck and the second re-ceives me from the lower

part of the body. Both veins

deliver me to the right sideof the heart and from here

Blood

circulationsystem

it is pumped into the pulmo-nary artery (the only artery

to carry me with no oxygen).

This artery takes me to thelung.

The final stage of the jour-

ney for me which is now areoxygen-rich to flow throughthe pulmonary vein (the only

vein to carry oxygenated

blood) into the left side of

the heart.

The circulation to

the lungs is called thepulmonary circulation andthe one to the rest of the

body is called the sys-

temic circulation. Thereare pulmonary and sys-

temic arteries whichcarry me outwards from

the heart and pulmonary

and systemic veins which

return it.

Short cuts

On leaving the intestines,I am not flow directly

back to the heart but I

am drained into what isknown as the hepatic portal

system of veins.

Once I am from the

intestines reaches the liver,I passes in among the liver

cells, in special capillaries

called sinusoids,and then entersanother system

of veins calledthe hepatic veins.These eventually

lead on to theinferior vena

cava, and thus into

the heart.

Then I make my way

into small veins and

back towards the

heart along veins

which are larger

enough to be seen

under the skin.

Flow of blood in blood

vessels


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b. Heme molecules, which is aprosthetic group that always

bind on me, go through a seriesof changes. The macrophages

convert heme into biliverdin

and then bilirubin. Bilirubin isreleased into the blood whereit forms a complex with blood

albumin (bound bilirubin). Inthe liver cells (hepatocytes)the bound bilirubin reacts with

glucuronic acid to form conju-

gated bilirubin. Most of theconjugated bilirubin is se-

creted into the small intestine

with the bile. In the largebowel, bacteria convert

bilirubin into the yellow-brownpigment (urobilinogen) that

This is the true story of me.It is very sad because when I,

the red blood cells are old ordamage, will be removed from

your circulation. There are

several way to remove me

where;

1. 90% of me are removedfrom the circulation by the

phagocytic activities of

macrophages in the liver,

spleen and lymph nodes.

2. 10% of the old cells hemo-

lyze in the circulation. Thefragments of these cells are

then engulfed by macrophages.

3. The chemical components of

me are broken down within

vacuoles of the macrophagesdue to the action of lysosomal

enzymes. The hemoglobin of

these cells is degraded into:

a. Globin which is further di-gested down to amino acids.These amino acids can then

be utilized by the phago-cytes for protein synthesis

or released into the blood.

gives feces its characteristiccolor. Some of this pigment

re-enters the blood from thecolon and is removed by the

kidney into the urine

(characteristic color).

c. Iron is removed from hememolecules in the phagocytes.The macrophages can store

iron or release it to the

blood. In the plasma, it bindsto the protein transferring

and is carried to the bonemarrow where the iron can

be used to synthesize newhemoglobin. Excess iron canbe stored in the bone marrowand liver. Some iron is lost in

the bile. For this reason, youhuman must take some iron infood since it can lost in your

body and without it, your

body would be deprived ofoxygen and eventually, all

vital system will shut down.

Although I know that

my life cycle is very short,

which only about 120 days Ialways do the best to get my

job done and served for human.

The End of My Life

Sources of iron

I am not evenly spread through-

out the system. At any given mo-ment, about 12 per cent is in the

arteries and veins which carry me

to and from the lungs. About 59per cent is in the veins, 15 per

cent is in the arteries, 5 per centin the capillaries and the remain-

ing 9 per cent in the heart. I am

not flow at the same rate in all

parts of the system. I spurtfrom the heart and through the

aorta at a brisk 33cm (13in) per

second, but by the time it hasreached the capillaries it has

slowed down to a gentle 0.3cm

(about a tenth of an inch) per

second.

The flow back throughthe veins gradually increases in

speed so that I can be deliveredback to the heart at 20cm

Distribution and Flow of Me

Prepared by:

Nur Sahrizan binti Serman D20091035075

Noor Hafizah binti Nasir D20091035083

Sandra Meru D20091035087P a g e 4

R e d B l o o d C e l l s : R i d i n g o n T h e R e d R o a d

riding on the red road

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