OUT OF BLOOD? WHY ASK MYSELF THIS QUESTION? When I started donating blood, one of the questions that they would ask is Would you like to donate plasma, we pay for it? and also at that time we were learning about blood in my Anatomy Class, but didnt go into depth about it. Which makes me curious on why they would pay for something thats in your blood. Is it really that important to others? WHAT I KNOW I dont know much about plasma, just that its found in our blood, and that its the liquid part of it and it contains the blood cells WHAT I WANT TO LEARN I want to learn specifically what Plasma is. Why do they have to take it out of our blood? What do the use the plasma that they take out of use and use in others? MY RESEARCH I looked for my information on websites where it explained more about my topic, I also talked to the Medical Anatomy & Physiology teacher at Cottonwood. I didnt look on the websites like Wikipedia or .com because those aren't reliable sources like the others WHAT I LEARNED I learned that the blood plasma helps maintain good blood pressure and volume to supplying critical proteins for blood clotting and immunity. It also serves as the medium for exchange of vital minerals such as sodium and potassium and helps to maintain a proper pH balance in the body, which is critical to cell function. Plasma is obtained by separating the liquid portion of blood from the cells.
WHAT I LEARNED CONT. Plasma has proteins that help the blood clot incase of an injury. Plasma contains nutrients, vitamins and electrolytes, and hormones to help the body function properly. During a plasma donation the they will take out the blood and plasma but since it is mixed together, the blood and plasma will be separated by something that is called a centrifuge, then the blood is put back into your body but the plasma isn't. WHAT I LEARNED CONT. Plasma is used for so many ways when it is donated it helps the immune system with more antibodies its also used to treat people with major burns, life threatening diseases, genetic conditions and autoimmune and neurological disorders. WHAT I THINK I think that in some cases it would be good to donate blood plasma you would be helping out someone else that needs it. But also people that I've talked to (usually adults) say that its an unpleasant experience, some people will give there plasma to get some money in return. But you'll be helping someone out that needs it, like a burn victim, or someone with a bad immune system. I learned a lot about Blood Plasma that I didnt know about, but now after doing research on it I know a lot more about it. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about- blood/blood-components/plasma http://donor.blood.co.uk/about-blood/how-blood- is-used/plasma/ http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/Encyclopedia/Con tent.aspx?ContentTypeID=160&ContentID=37