Blood, hemostasis and basic immunity
Red cells and iron, white cells, blood groups, hemostasis and coagulation.
18 pages
Exam priority: high
- Anemia physiology and compensationMechanism · Anemia means too little hemoglobin to carry oxygen
- Blood groups, transfusion and transfusion reactionsConcept · Red cells carry sugar and protein labels (A, B, Rh)
- Coagulation tests: PT/INR, aPTT and plateletsMeasurement · A few blood tests show which part of clotting is failing: the platelets, the extrinsic pathway…
- Primary hemostasis and plateletsMechanism · When a vessel is cut it narrows and platelets stick to the wound, forming a soft plug in seconds…
- The coagulation cascadeMechanism · A chain of blood proteins turns on one after another to make thrombin, which weaves fibrin…
Exam priority: medium
- Body iron balanceRegulation · The body cannot get rid of extra iron, so it controls how much the gut absorbs
- Erythropoiesis and erythropoietinRegulation · The kidney measures oxygen
- Fibrinolysis and natural anticoagulantsRegulation · Blood has built-in brakes that keep clots small, and a cleanup enzyme, plasmin, that dissolves…
- HematopoiesisConcept · All blood cells come from a few stem cells in the bone marrow that copy themselves and mature…
- Innate and adaptive immunity: overviewConcept · The body has a fast, general defence (innate) and a slower, precise one with memory (adaptive)
- The physiology of inflammationMechanism · Inflammation is the body's alarm: vessels widen and leak so defence cells and proteins reach the…
- The red cell life cycle and the spleenConcept · A red cell lives about four months
- The red cell: shape, counts, maturation and the red cell indicesMeasurement · Red cells are flexible discs full of hemoglobin; their size and colour numbers (MCV, MCH, MCHC)…
- Thrombosis and bleeding: Virchow's triad and hemostatic defectsMechanism · Clots form where blood is slow, the vessel wall is damaged or the blood clots too easily
- White blood cells: types and functionsTable to know · White blood cells are the body's defence team
- White cell kinetics and the lines of defence in inflammationRegulation · In infection, resident macrophages act first, neutrophils pour in within hours, monocytes…
For completeness
- Polycythemia: physiological causesMechanism · Polycythemia means too many red cells
- Rh incompatibilityMechanism · An Rh-negative mother can make antibodies against her Rh-positive baby's red cells
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Educational physiology content; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. Values are approximate references. No doses are given.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.