What are the main components of blood and explain their functions.

Blood consists of cells such as red blood cells, white bloods cells and platelets and plasma. Red blood cells are important for the delivery of oxygen to the cells in the body - to enable respiration and the generation of energy. White blood cells are part of the bodies immune system and will fight off infections. Platelets help the blood to clot when a patient is bleeding/cut. We can visualise these cells by looking at them through a microscope. When these cell numbers are too high or too low, this can result in a variety of diseases (depending on which cells are affected). For example, having a low number of red blood cells can result in anaemia. Depending on the specification we can go into more detail about the functions of each cell type and their role in the body.