What is blood? Blood is a connective tissue that supplies oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the body. It also carries away waste products and regulates body temperature. Blood is more important than most of us realize and is capable of revealing tons of aspects of our health. It consists of two different components: cells and plasma. The cells float in the plasma, which is the liquid portion of blood.There are approximately 5 liters of blood contained in the human body, which ends up equaling about 7% of a persons body weight. Every year millions of people worldwide, about 16 million to be exact, are in need of blood transfusions. People may need a blood transfusion for various reasons such as: severe blood loss, anemia, or cancer. The Center for Disease control estimated that as many as 35,000 people die every year due to hepatitis received during blood transfusions. There are also about 500,000 illnesses related to this fact. There are also deaths due to human error of giving people the wrong type of blood during their transfusions. However, regardless of the deaths that occur annually because of blood transfusions there are also deaths because of the fact that there is a demand for blood and some patients simply do not receive the blood type they need due to the unavailability of it. Why is this important? Scientists are currently researching ways to create a synthetic blood that will forever change the world of blood transfusions. Synthetic blood offers many advantages compared to actual blood. One of the biggest advantages is that it's universally compatible with all people regardless of their blood type. Other advantages is that unlike real blood, synthetic blood can be stored up to longer periods of time and more importantly does not need to be refrigerated. Blood transmitted diseases such as hepatitis can be prevented and in some cases synthetic blood can deliver oxygen to organs even faster than actual blood. The question is, how is this groundbreaking discovery going to be created and turned into everyday use for clinics and hospitals. The answer is stem cells from bone marrow as well as human embryos. Stem cells are cells that are able to differentiate into any type of cell. If development of synthetic blood is successful then the blood demands in various countries will all be satisfied. Clinical trials with humans are said to hopefully be in the near future. So the next time you see blood, before you put the bandaid on, think about its importance. One day you may be the one who has part of this innovative discovery flowing inside of you because blood is indeed the river of life.
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment