Blood clotting: Uncle Platelet and Itty-Bitty Blood Vessel

Labeled for reuse on flickr

I'm sure many of you have heard of the royal disease. Well this disease is the very absence of what I'll be talking (writing) about. When they bleed, they bleed out.

In most of the population (unless you have haemophilia) when you cut yourself, eventually your blood clots and you stop bleeding. This is quite a vital mechanism, considering how valuable our blood is. Without the process of blood clotting, you could literally die from a papercut (yes I mean literally, not figuratively). 

So, how does it work? Well first you need a cut. If you bleed, that means some of the itty-bitty blood vessels (called capillaries) have been damaged. Side not: please don't call them itty-bitty blood vessels on a formal assessment. These itty-bitty blood vessels will send chemical messages, essentially shouting to your body that they have a boo-boo. Uncle platelet, will soon hear their screaming and make his way to the damaged blood vessels. Uncle platelet, is made up of fragmented cell parts produced in the blood marrow. These little cell parts with then try and create a plug to stop blood from exiting your body. Uncle platelet and itty-bitty blood vessel will then continue screamin (via chemical messages), letting your body that it still needs help. The chemical messages with cause prothrombin (protein) to break down into thrombin (enzyme). Thrombin is an enzyme for the transformation of fibrinogen to fibrin. So, as enzymes like doing, they will catalyze this reaction. Fibrin can then float on over to your boo-boo, and create a mesh. Viola, you are no longer dying from a paper-cut. Unless you have haemophilia, in which case, sorry...