2006-09-04 16:04:39 · 10 answers · asked by bigg_dog09 1 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
Circulating red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin. It has an affinity for oxygen and gives them their characteristic red color.
http://www.path.sunysb.edu/coursemat/hbp310bloodlymphoid.htm
www.bloodcenter.org/about/blood_cells.htm
2006-09-04 17:41:13 · answer #1 · answered by dudette 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What color is blood 卹eally ?
Human blood is made up of a liquid part and a solid part.
The liquid part, when it is still in the body, is called plasma.
It is yellowish in color. It makes up about 50 - 60 % of our blood.
The solid part is made up of cells; red blood cells, white blood cells
and platelets.
White blood cells and platelets have no color but appear white when they
are grouped together, as when blood is separated in a centrifuge. Together
they make up less than 1 % of the blood. They are pictured in text books
as having a variety of colors. This is because they can be stained with
various dyes after they are removed from the body then placed on a glass
slide.
Red blood cells are always red. Since RBCs make up about 40-45% of our
blood, the blood is red. Red blood cells are red because they have a
protein called hemoglobin which contains iron. Iron likes to bind oxygen.
Oxygen combined with iron is red. The more oxygen iron has bound to
it, the redder it is.
It is true that some persons have "iron poor blood". In this case their
red blood cells are less red than normal, but they are still red. The
iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells is what carries oxygen to every
tissue in the body.
Why some people may think that blood can be blue is probably because of the
color of our veins, which may be visible near the skin's surface. They
appear blue because they do not get as much oxygen as the other tissues.
When the red blood cells go to the lungs, the iron in them picks up oxygen.
Blood then goes to the heart and then to the rest of the body through
vessels called arteries. The arteries appear reddish as do many other
organs, because the iron in the blood gives up its oxygen to the cells that
need it as the red blood cells travel throughout the body. By the time the
blood is back on its way to the heart and then to the lungs it has less
than half as much oxygen as it did before. The veins, therefore, do not
get as much oxygen as the other tissues and they appear bluish.
The bottom line is: blood is red.
2006-09-04 16:10:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
carolmerel is 100 percent right dead on the mark. I am a certified phlebotomist and a Medical lab tech it is my job to mess around with veins and blood and arterole and all that jazz inside ya. blood is always red just different shades of red. The color that you see on the outside of your arm are simple just the veins not the contents. The vacutainers that blood is drawn into when you have blood tests done is oxygen free and air tight, the blood that pumps into the vacutainers is in the exact same state as it is in your veins. So if we went by the theory that your blood is blue it would be blue as well in the vacutainer....but surprise... it is red!!!!!
2006-09-04 16:20:32 · answer #3 · answered by kim s 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm currently in medical school, and I was told that it was just a myth that your blood is blue on the inside of the body, and red when it comes out. But as far as I know there is no way to actually test that theory.
2006-09-04 16:13:07 · answer #4 · answered by niks_mom7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blood is blue inside the body. Somehow the oxygen interacts and causes it to turn red,
2006-09-04 16:09:48 · answer #5 · answered by ruthie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it turns into something like brownish red because oxygen makes the ferrous state of the blood (which responsible for the red color) turned into it's ferric state (which is of course responsible for the brown color)
2006-09-04 16:11:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Blue like crips homie.
2006-09-07 15:38:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bluish green.
Because of it's high iron content, it oxidizes upon exposure to air.
2006-09-04 16:10:19 · answer #8 · answered by zen 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Oxidation, when it hits oxygen it darkens.
2006-09-04 16:10:01 · answer #9 · answered by Fleur de Lis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blue, but dont know why
2006-09-04 16:17:34 · answer #10 · answered by skyler 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋