What are the main functions of the spleen?
Your spleen’s main function is to act as a filter for your blood. It recognizes and removes old, malformed, or damaged red blood cells. When blood flows into your spleen, your spleen performs “quality control”; your red blood cells must pass through a maze of narrow passages.
What are the 5 functions of the spleen?
Synthesis of immunoglobulin G (IgG), properdin (an essential component of the alternate pathway of complement activation), and tuftsin (an immunostimulatory tetrapeptide) Removal of abnormal red blood cells (RBCs) Extramedullary hematopoiesis in certain diseases.
What is the function of the spleen where is it located?
Your spleen is a small organ located on the left side of your abdomen under the rib cage. This organ is part of your immune system and helps to fight off infections while also filtering damaged and old cells out of your bloodstream.
What does the thymus do?
The thymus gland is in the chest, between the lungs and behind the breastbone (sternum). It is just in front of, and above, the heart. The thymus makes white blood cells called T lymphocytes (also called T cells). These are an important part of the body’s immune system, which helps us to fight infection.
Can you drink without a spleen?
You should not eat or drink anything the morning of surgery. Your doctor will give you complete instructions. Before surgery, you will be given drugs or a vaccine to prevent bacterial infections from developing after the spleen is removed.
What role does the spleen play in digestion?
Despite its location near the digestive tract, and having vascular connections to both the pancreas and stomach, the spleen is not directly involved in digestion. Like an oil filter in your car, the spleen cleans your blood as it flows through it.
How does thymus contribute to body protection?
The thymus serves a vital role in the training and development of T-lymphocytes or T cells, an extremely important type of white blood cell. T cells defend the body from potentially deadly pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
What hormones does the thymus secrete?
The thymus produces and secretes thymosin, a hormone necessary for T cell development and production. The thymus is special in that, unlike most organs, it is at its largest in children. Once you reach puberty, the thymus starts to slowly shrink and become replaced by fat.
What are the side effects of not having a spleen?
If the spleen does not work properly, it may start to remove healthy blood cells. This can lead to: anaemia, from a reduced number of red blood cells. an increased risk of infection, from a reduced number of white blood cells.
What is the function of the spleen in the body?
The physical organization of the spleen allows it to filter blood of pathogens and abnormal cells and facilitate … The spleen is the largest secondary lymphoid organ in the body and, as such, hosts a wide range of immunologic functions alongside its roles in hematopoiesis and red blood cell clearance.
Why is the word spleen used as a synonym for anger?
The word “spleen” has come to be used metaphorically as a synonym for “anger”. This is because in medieval times, the spleen was thought to be the literal, physical source of a hot temper. People thought that “venting” their spleens would remove excess anger.
What happens to red blood cells in the spleen?
It recognizes and removes old, malformed, or damaged red blood cells. When blood flows into your spleen, your spleen performs “quality control”; your red blood cells must pass through a maze of narrow passages. Healthy blood cells simply pass through the spleen and continue to circulate throughout your bloodstream.
Where does the iron from the spleen go?
Macrophages are large white blood cells that specialize in destroying these unhealthy red blood cells. Always economical, your spleen saves any useful components from the old cells, such as iron. It stores iron in the form of ferritin or bilirubin, and eventually returns the iron to your bone marrow, where hemoglobin is made.