Human Circulatory System:Sickel Cell

Essay by jimmytheballHigh School, 11th grade December 2004

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The human circulatory system is a group of organs that transports blood and the things such as nutrients and oxygen to and from all parts of the body. The circulatory system can be considered as made up of two parts. One part is the systemic circulation, which serves everything in the body except the lungs, and the other is the pulmonary circulation which carries the blood to and from the lungs. The organs of the circulatory system receive the blood as it is pumped to them by the heart. The heart is a four chambered organ with a wall (septum) dividing it into two main sections. One section pumps blood from the heart into the lungs to become oxygenated and the other pumps blood from the lungs to the rest of the body. The blood travels in thousands of tubes called vessels. In the vessels are many smaller tubes called arteries.

Arteries carry blood away from the heart and to the rest of the body. Inside the arteries are microscopic capillaries through which gas and nutrient exchange occur. Before the blood is circulated through the body it must first go through the lungs to become oxygenated and receive nutrients to carry off to the rest of the body. Because the circulatory system is such a complex system with so many small intricate parts, there are many medical problems associated with it.

One of the major problems associated with the circulatory system is sickle cell anemia. Usually a heredity disease, sickle cell anemia causes abnormalities in the shape of red blood cells. If looked at under a microscope, these infected red blood cells are shaped like a crescent and are wilted. This is where they are given the name sickle cell. Cells infected with this disease do not have the...