Platelets
Platelets are formed elements that are made up of broken down red blood cells. The importance of platelets are that they aid in clotting blood in cuts and wounds. Without platelets we would bleed to death whenever we got a minor cut. The blood stream contains about 300,000 platelets per microliter of blood. Platelets are alerted through chemical stimuli when a cut occurs, once one platelet gets the alert it calls out for more until the cut is clotted. A great way to keep your platelet count at normal is to consume plenty of Vitamin K, which come from greens!
Red Blood Cells
Erythrocytes! Red blood cells are scientifically known as erythrocytes. They make up 99.9% of the formed elements inside the blood plasma. Red blood cells are tiny workers that make our entire bodies function. The function of a red blood cell is to transport the oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body. The red blood cell is unique due to its shape and color. The shape of a red blood cell is bi-concave, meaning that the insides of the cell go in. Its shape allows the oxygen to ride on the cell without it having to create energy. This means that the red blood cell is anaerobic! Hemoglobin is also an important characteristic of the red blood cell. Hemoglobin helps the oxygen and carbon dioxide attach to the red blood cell for transport. It also gives the red blood cell its color due to the iron it is composed of.
White Blood Cells
The white blood cell is another component inside the plasma. White blood cells are also known as leukocytes and are broken down into different types. The main purpose of white blood cells are to defend the body against pathogens, clean up wastes, and to remove abnormal or damaged cells. Leukocytes are the defense mechanism in our bodies. They are attracted to chemical stimuli that signal off damaged tissues or foreign bodies inside the body. Unlike red blood cells that flow through veins and arteries; white blood cells move like amoeba to attack their "prey." The different types of leukocytes are: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes. Each type of leukocyte serves a different defensive purpose in the body.