Blood and Circulation - Glossary
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Active Transport - The movement of a substance across a cell membrane. This process requires energy.
Alveolus - (Plural - Alveoli) One of thousands of tiny airsacs inside the lungs designed to increase surface area.
Amino Acids - The building blocks of proteins.
Arteries - The larger blood vessels that lead away from the heart.
Arterioles - Smaller blood vessels that lead between the arteries and the capillaries.
Atrium - (Plural - Atria) One of the two upper chambers of the heart.
Capillaries - The smallest of blood vessels in which diffusion of food and gases takes place.
Diastole - Relaxation of the cardiac muscle.
Diffusion - The movement of a substance from an area of high concentration to a lower one.
Endothelium - An epithelium that lines a tube or space.
Epithelium - A tissue that lines or covers an organ.
Erythrocytes - The long name for red blood cells.
Fibrinogen - A plasma protein involved inclotting.
Granulocytes - Whit blood cells with a multi-lobed nucleus that play a role in allergies and fighting disease.
Haemoglobin - An Iron based glycoprotein, located in the red blood cells, that combines with oxygen to carry it around the body.
Heart - The organ that pumps blood atround the body by contracting.
Hydrostatic Pressure - The pressure that blood exerts against capillary walls causing the formation of tissue fluid.
Leucocytes - The long name for white blood cells.
Lymphocytes - White cell with very little cytoplasm used to secrete antibodies and fight infection.
Mitochondrion - The parts of a cells that produce energy.
Monocytes - White cell with kidney-bean shaped nucleus that ingests cell fragments.
Nucleus - The part of a cells that contains its DNA and that issues its instructions.
Plasma - The yellow liquid that blood cells are suspended in.
Platelets - Small cell fragments involved in blood clotting.
Pulmonary - Of the lungs.
Serum - Not quite sure.
Sink - Where a substance is being transported to.
Source - Where a substance is being transported from.
Systole - Contraction of the cardiac muscle.
Veins - Larger blood vessels leading back to the heart.
Ventricle - One of the lower chambers of the heart.
Venules - Smaller blood vessels that lead between the capillaries and the veins.
