Blood Cell- What is a blood cell?

Blood is a circulating fluid. Blood cell is any type of blood found in the blood or plasma. In mammals blood also known as plasma is made up of three types of blood cells. Namely, the red blood cells, the white blood cells and platelets. The main function of blood is to supply nutrients and other elements to the different body tissues.

Red blood cells

Red Blood Cells or RBCs are also known as erythrocytes. Dutch Jan Swammerdam was the first to describe RBCs. The main function of these cells is to transport oxygen produced in the lungs or gills to the body tissues through the blood. The RBCs mainly contain hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is responsible for carrying oxygen to the different parts of the body. The red color that the blood has is due to hemoglobin. Erythrocytes are continuously produced in the red bone marrow that is present inside large bones. Diseases such as anemia, iron deficiency disorders, sickle cell disease, thalassemia, spherocytosis, aplastic anemia and malaria are some of the diseases related to Red Blood Cells.

White blood cells

White blood cells or WBCs are also known as leukocytes. Similar to the RBCs, the WBCs are also produced in the bone marrow. However, the main function of the WBCs is to protect the body from infectious diseases or foreign materials. Hence it plays an important role in the immune system of the body. Neutrophil granulocyte, eosinophil granulocyte, basophil granulocyte, lymphocyte, monocyte and macrophage are the different types of leukocytes. Leucopenia, leukocytosis, leukemia and lymphoma are the various diseases related to white blood cells.

Platelet

Platelets are also known are thrombocytes. Brewer was the first to discover platelets. Later it underwent scrutiny by many other scientists. These are blood cell fragments that play a major role in formation of blood clot. They thus stop excess bleeding and assist in healing of the body. Platelets are also produced in the bone marrow. They get activated when they come in contact with collagen, thrombin, ADP and White Blood Cells to form a blood clot. Thrombocytopenia, aplastic anemia and thrombocytosis are some of the diseases that involve platelets.

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