How can you say that RBC's maintain the viscosity of blood?
Dear student,
Blood viscosity could be defined as the thickness or the stickyness of the person's blood. It determines the amount of friction against the blood vessels or the quantity of oxygen that is delivered to the tissues and organs in that person's body.
Now, factors like hematocrit, erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte aggregation,( also plasma viscosity, and temperature) are determining factors for blood viscosity.
Hematocrit is determined by the percentage of RBCs in the blood. A higher percentage gives thicker blood. Thus, hematocrit accounts for approximately 50% of the difference between high blood viscosity and normal blood viscosity .
The ability of RBCs to elongate at higher velocities and be able to pass through the slender capillaries is called erythrocyte deformability. Now, more flexible the RBCs are, less is the blood viscosity. Newer RBCs are more flexible than the older RBCs.
Similarly, erythrocyte aggregation, which means ability of RBCs to get attracted to each other and ger aggregated , also plays a major role in blood visosity.
Regards.
Blood viscosity could be defined as the thickness or the stickyness of the person's blood. It determines the amount of friction against the blood vessels or the quantity of oxygen that is delivered to the tissues and organs in that person's body.
Now, factors like hematocrit, erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte aggregation,( also plasma viscosity, and temperature) are determining factors for blood viscosity.
Hematocrit is determined by the percentage of RBCs in the blood. A higher percentage gives thicker blood. Thus, hematocrit accounts for approximately 50% of the difference between high blood viscosity and normal blood viscosity .
The ability of RBCs to elongate at higher velocities and be able to pass through the slender capillaries is called erythrocyte deformability. Now, more flexible the RBCs are, less is the blood viscosity. Newer RBCs are more flexible than the older RBCs.
Similarly, erythrocyte aggregation, which means ability of RBCs to get attracted to each other and ger aggregated , also plays a major role in blood visosity.
Regards.