What is blood?
Blood is a vital fluid that flows through the blood vessels, reaching all organs of the body.
What are the basic components of blood?
- Plasma makes up 55%-60% of the blood volume, and is a yellow fluid that contains water, salts, proteins, hormones, and antibodies. It acts as a carrier of nutrients and gases and contributes to regulating blood pressure and providing immunity.
- Red blood cells make up about 40% of the blood volume and contain hemoglobin that facilitates the exchange of gases between cells and the lungs.
- White blood cells make up a small part of the blood, and are an essential part of the immune system, and help fight infection and inflammation.
- Platelets play an important role in the clotting process, as they gather in affected areas to form a blood clot and prevent bleeding.
What is plasma?
Plasma is the liquid component of blood and makes up about 55%-60% of the total blood volume. It is a yellow fluid that contains:
- Water, salts, and proteins (such as albumin).
- Hormones.
- Antibodies.
- Coagulation factors.
- Vitamins.
What are the main functions of plasma?
- Transport of nutrients: Plasma provides nutrients, minerals and vitamins to cells and muscles.
- Gas exchange: It contributes to the primary exchange of gases at the cellular level.
- Blood pressure regulation: Albumin contributes to the regulation of osmotic blood pressure levels.
- Transport of molecules: It helps in transporting minerals, salts and medications throughout the body.
- Immunity: It contains antibodies that form one of the body's main lines of defense.
- Protection against bleeding: It contains clotting factors that protect against bleeding.
What diseases are treated by plasma-derived drugs?
Immune diseases: These include autoimmune diseases, rheumatism and some neurological diseases, where immune antibodies are used.
Fluid loss: Human albumin is used to treat cases of acute fluid loss such as severe burns.
Bleeding: Clotting factors are used to treat patients with bleeding.
The primary source of these medicines is plasma collected from donors, which undergoes separation and testing.
What are the steps followed in the plasma donation process to ensure the safety of the donor and patients?
Plasma donation is a process performed by individuals who are medically fit for this process. Plasma is collected from donors in designated blood donation centers, where medical examinations are conducted to verify the health of the donor, and to ensure that he is free of blood diseases or any health condition that may endanger the lives of patients.
How to benefit from plasma?
After collecting the plasma, it is frozen to maintain its quality and effectiveness. It is stored at a low temperature in blood bank warehouses until it is examined and reprocessed to extract various derivatives from the plasma.