-
Asked by to Bethany, Hannah, Keith, Peter, Ramya on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
-
Peter Elliott answered on 18 Jun 2014:
The spleen is an organ in your body that plays an important role in blood cleaning and also in your immune system.
Old red blood cells are removed by a mechanical action that young healthy cells survive but that destroys old (also misshaped blood cells). The iron that is liberated can then be recycled into new red blood cells. This is done in the red pulp of the spleen.
The spleen is able to produce antibodies which are used to fight any foreign organisms in your blood. The screening of your blood occurs in white pulp areas of the spleen. If a foreign object is detected then your spleen releases lots of white blood cells called lymphocytes to specifically target any more of these objects in the rest of your body.
Finally, which I only just discovered, the spleen can act as a blood store and under traumatic blood loss conditions the spleen can then release this reserve.
-
-
Bethany Dearlove answered on 18 Jun 2014:
The spleen is interesting, as it performs lots of important functions – but isn’t actually necessary for life. It can stop working, or be removed all together (known as a splenectomy), and other organs such as the liver and bone marrow can help take up the spleen’s role.
There are two types of tissue in the spleen – the red pulp, and the white pulp. In the white pulp, white blood cells look for invading germs and prepare to attack them – either directly, or using antibodies. The red pulp is responsible for removing old or damaged red blood cells, and also stores up to 1/3 of the bodies platelets. Platelets help stop bleeding, so this store is really important for a rapid response to severe bleeding.
Comments