Human Physiology Quotes

“There are several isoforms of globin proteins in
hemoglobin. The most common isoforms are designated alpha
(a), beta (b), gamma (g), and delta (d), depending on the structure of the chain. Most adult hemoglobin (designated HbA) has
two alpha chains and two beta chains, as shown. However, a
small portion of adult hemoglobin (about 2.5%) has two alpha
chains and two delta chains (HbA2
).”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“Erythropoietin is usually called
a hormone, but technically it fits the definition of a cytokine because it is made on demand rather than stored in vesicles.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“Although blood synthesis in adults is limited, the liver, spleen, and inactive (yellow) regions of marrow can resume blood cell production in times of need.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“In adults, the only areas producing blood cells are
the pelvis, spine, ribs, cranium, and proximal ends of long bones.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“The common embryological origin of the endothelium and blood
cells perhaps explains why many cytokines that control hematopoiesis are released by the vascular endothelium.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“White blood
cells are the only fully functional cells in the circulation. Red
blood cells have lost their nuclei by the time they enter the bloodstream, and platelets, which also lack a nucleus, are cell fragments
that have split off a relatively large parent cell known as a megakaryocyte {mega, extremely large + karyon, kernel + -cyte, cell}.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“The presence of proteins in the plasma makes the osmotic
pressure of the blood higher than that of the interstitial fluid.
This osmotic gradient tends to pull water from the interstitial
fluid into the capillaries and offset filtration out of the capillaries
created by blood pressure”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“What is even more remarkable is the fact that as late as
1923, an American medical textbook advocated bleeding for
treating certain infectious diseases, such as pneumonia!”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach

“Ancient Chinese physicians linked blood to energy flow in
the body. They wrote about the circulation of blood through the
heart and blood vessels long before William Harvey described
it in seventeenth-century Europe. In China, changes in blood
flow were used as diagnostic clues to illness. Chinese physicians
were expected to recognize some 50 variations in the pulse. Because blood was considered a vital fluid to be conserved and
maintained, bleeding patients to cure disease was not a standard
form of treatment.”
― Dee Unglaub Silverthorn, Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach