What Is Plasma?
Plasma is the liquid part of your blood.
You may have heard of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. But
plasma is also part of your blood.
One of its
jobs is keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range. It
also carries important proteins, minerals, nutrients, and hormones to the right
places in your body.
What Is Plasma Made Of?
Plasma is
made up of about 90% water. It also has salts and enzymes. And it
has antibodies that help fight infection, plus proteins called albumin and
fibrinogen.
Plasma
makes up the biggest part of your blood: about 55%. Even though blood appears
red when you see it outside the body, plasma itself is a pale yellow color.
What Is the Function of Blood Plasma?
Plasma
helps carry proteins, hormones, and nutrients to different cells in your body.
These include:
- Growth hormones that help your muscles and bones grow
- Clotting factors that help you stop bleeding when you get a cut
- Nutrients such as potassium and sodium that help your
cells work
Plasma also
helps your body:
- Maintain normal blood pressure and blood volume levels
- Get rid of the chemical waste from cells by dissolving it and
carrying it away
Plasma Donation
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Doctors can
use plasma to treat different kinds of serious health problems.
Some of the
elements in plasma, including the antibodies and chemicals that help your blood
to clot, can help in medical emergencies like burns and trauma.
Other
things that plasma donation is good for include:
- Developing treatments. The
antibodies and proteins can also be used to develop treatments for rare
diseases, including some immune system problems.
- Cancer. Adults
and children with different kinds of cancer -- including leukemia -- sometimes need plasma
transfusions.
- Transplant surgery. Some
people who get liver or bone marrow transplants need plasma.
- Hemophilia. In this rare disorder, a person’s blood doesn’t have enough
clotting factors, so donated plasma can help.
What to Expect During Plasma Donation
To donate
plasma, you have to be at least 18 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds.
You’ll need to get a physical examination and get tested for
certain viruses like HIV and hepatitis.
Donating
plasma is a little different from donating whole blood. When you donate whole
blood, it goes straight into a collection bag and is later separated in a lab.
When you donate plasma, the blood that’s drawn from your arm goes through a
special machine to separate the different parts of your blood.
The parts
that are left over, including your red blood cells, go back in your body, along
with some saline (saltwater) solution. The process usually takes about 1 hour
and 15 minutes.
Further reading:
ABO and most common blood types
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