FAQ's

Blood mainly consists of a fluid called plasma which transports cellular elements throughout your body. These cellular elements are a) Red Blood Cells (RBC), b) White Blood Cells (WBC) and c) Platelets

1. Plasma: In addition to cellular element, plasma acts as a vehicle to carry substances like glucose, fats, and proteins, enzymes, and hormones and other such things that help to maintain body’s fluid balance.
2. Red Blood Cells (RBC): RBCs carry oxygen from lungs to various body tissues and take carbon dioxide from the cells and tissues back to the lungs to be thrown out of body in the form of exhaled air.
3. White Blood Cells (WBC): WBCs act as body scavengers and guards. They help in the immune system of the body and act as defence forces of the body killing the bacteria or any other organisms entering the body.
4. Platelets: Platelets help in the clotting and coagulation of blood. Generally, bleeding from an injury stops after a few minutes. This is possible because of body’s blood clotting mechanism in which platelets plays a very vital role.
5. Cryoprecipitate" is used to prevent or control bleeding in people whose own blood does not clot properly. This includes patients with serious but rare hereditary conditions such as Haemophilia A (who lack factor VIII) and von Willebrand disease (who lack von Willebrand factor).

Blood consists of RBCs, WBCs, platelets suspended in plasma. In early embryonic life blood cells are formed in liver and spleen. But by the fifth month the Haemopoisis (i.e., formation of blood.) occurs in bone marrow and lymphatic tissues. At birth the entire bone marrow is red and active. Gradually as the child grows, the marrow remains red only in the flat bones and vertebrae. The RBC, grannulocytes of WBC and platelets are produced mainly by bone marrow. The lymphocytes, monocytes, plasma cells are formed in the lymphoid and Reticulo Endothelial tissues. The orderly proliferation of the cells in the bone marrow and their release into circulation is carefully regulated according to the needs of body. Every day, old cells die and are removed from the body and everyday bone marrow produces new cells in their place. Red blood cells have a life of 120 days and when it becomes old and senile it is thrown out. White cells live for a few days and platelets for a few hours. Thus daily new cells are added to the circulation and old are removed from it.

Haemoglobin is a special protein present in the red cells. It is helpful in carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide. On an average, in a healthy male it should be between 14 - 16 gm % and in a female it should be about 12 - 14 gm %. This is also being daily synthesized and the new is replacing the old stock.

Every individual has two types of blood groups. The first is called the ABO - grouping and the second type is called Rh - grouping. In the ABO - group there are four categories namely A Group, B Group, O Group and AB Group. In the Rh - Group either the individual is Rh-positive, or Rh-negative. Rh is a factor called as Rhesus factor that has come to us from Rhesus monkeys. Thus each and every human being will fall in one of the following groups. A positive or A negative B positive or B negative O positive or O negative AB positive or AB negative There are also some sub groups as well as a few other classifications.

For all practical and routine purposes, it is ideal to transfuse to the patient the same group of blood which he belongs to. It is only under very dire emergency that we take O group as universal donor and AB groups as universal recipient. Under no circumstances O group can get any other blood except O. Similarly A group patient cannot be given B group blood and vice versa.