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ADULT GERONTOLOGICAL HEMATOLOGY AND HIV
TREATMENT STRATEGIES ASSESSMENT STUDY GUIDE
TIPS 2026 JUST RELEASED
Your hematologic system is made up of your blood, the cells within your blood,
the lymph,your bone marrow, the spleen, and the liver.So all of those are part of
the hematologic system.
And your hematologic system is responsible for three main things.
1. Perfusion, so that blood is carrying nutrients and oxygen through the
tissues and the organs.
2. Your clotting, your ability to clot is based on your hematologic system.
3. bone marrow production, which is where all of those cells from your
hematologic system, that is where they're produced, your red blood
cells, your white blood cells, and your platelets.Those are all created in
that bone marrow.
So your plasma is made up.That's the fluid that the cells are in.
And it also contains, in addition to your red blood cells and your white blood
cells and your platelets. It also contains albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen.
Now your albumin, remember, is a protein that maintains osmotic
pressure. And that osmotic pressure, the albumin has these large
molecules, and it is able to prevent that plasma leak.
Your globulins are also very large proteins, and they help assist with immune
function.
And then fibrinogen is part of your clotting cascade. So fibrinogen helps to form
fibrin.
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Red blood cells transport oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from your body
tissues. They contain haemoglobin, which is that oxygen carrying molecule that
gives blood the bright red color that you see.The red blood cell surface also
carries antigens, which are substances that trigger immune responses, which
can also, in turn, these antigens can determine a person's blood type. RBCs, on
average, have a lifespan of about 120 days.
the bone marrow releases RBCs into circulation in an immature form and we call
that a reticulocyte and the reticulocytes mature within about a day so it takes
the reticulocytes about 24 hours to become a mature red blood cell and then the
spleen isolates those old red blood cells and removes them from circulation and
isolates them there.
white blood cells are also formed in the bone marrow. They have very
specialized functions. We have five different types of white blood cells that
participate in our body's defence and our immune systems. And they are
broken into either granulocytes or agranulocytes.
Your granulocytes are your neutrophils, your monocytes, your acinophils,
basophils, and your macrophages.
agranulocytes play a larger role with immunity and that is going to be your B
lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, that sort of thing.
All right, when we talk about platelets, platelets are our smallest blood cell in the
body.platelets are also formed in the bone marrow they're tiny little colourless
disc-shaped fragments that they split from cells in the bone marrow um in our
peripheral blood they make these this they're sticky and they contribute to the
blood clotting in three ways. 1. The first thing they do is they clump together to
plug very small defects
in small blood vessel walls.
2. They can also congregate at an injury site in a larger vessel
,3
to close the wound so that a clot can form
3. third way is they release substances thatstabilize the clot, such as things
like serotonin, which can reduce blood flow by the use of vasoconstriction, or
thromboplastin, which is an enzyme essential for clotting.
About 80% of our platelets are found in our circulation, and about 20% are stored
in the spleen.
spleen is made up of white pulp red pulp and marginal pulp so your spleen is in
your left upper abdominal quadrant right below your diaphragm and it's about
the size of your fist the interior spleen we call the splenic pulp and that's where
the white and the red pulp are located.
White pulp contains compact masses of lymphocytes and they surround the
splenic artery to kind of protect that splenic artery.
red pulp is this network of blood-filled sinuses that's supported by a framework
of fibers and phagocytes along with some lymphocytes, plasma cells, and
monocytes.
So that's the difference between your red and your white pulp.
Your spleen has several functions. It has phagocytic ability to engulf
and break down old red blood cells. It filters and removes bacteria and foreign
substances from the bloodstream.
Splenic phagocytes interact with lymphocytes to initiate an immune response
when needed. And your spleen also can store blood and 20 to 30 percent of your
platelets are also stored there.
liver, which is your other accessory organ that we spoke about, produces
prothrombin and other blood clotting factors. And its proper liver function is also
very important in the formation of vitamin K in the
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intestinal tract. And if you remember, vitamin K is needed to produce our
clotting factors. Large amounts of whole blood and blood cells are also stored in
the liver, and it is capable of storing extra iron within the protein ferritin.
So the spleen and the liver play large roles in our hematologic system.
all right homeostasis and blood clotting so homeostasis is a complex process
where platelets plasma and coagulation factors interact to control bleeding so
when a blood vessel ruptures Local vasoconstriction and platelet clumping at
the injury site is the initial prevention of haemorrhage. This activation is the very
beginning of the coagulation system, and we call it the estrinsec cascade. And it
requires the release of tissue thromboplastin from the damaged cells for it to
begin.
From there, formation of a more stable clot requires an initiation of very
complex clotting mechanisms known as our intrinsic cascade system. And this
clotting system is activated by a protein called factor 10, which is one of 13
different substances needed for coagulation in our body.
The final result of the intrinsic and extrinsic cascade is a fibrin clot and accumulation of a
fibrous insoluble protein at the injury site.
But this breakdown of this three-step process, this is kind of the short version.
Okay, so health history.
There's some general information, like women tend to have a lower red blood
cell count than men. That is due to their menstrual cycle.
Our bone marrow function and our immunity just naturally decrease with age.
But when we're doing our health assessment, we need to ask, make sure we ask
our patients. We need to know specifically when
ADULT GERONTOLOGICAL HEMATOLOGY AND HIV
TREATMENT STRATEGIES ASSESSMENT STUDY GUIDE
TIPS 2026 JUST RELEASED
Your hematologic system is made up of your blood, the cells within your blood,
the lymph,your bone marrow, the spleen, and the liver.So all of those are part of
the hematologic system.
And your hematologic system is responsible for three main things.
1. Perfusion, so that blood is carrying nutrients and oxygen through the
tissues and the organs.
2. Your clotting, your ability to clot is based on your hematologic system.
3. bone marrow production, which is where all of those cells from your
hematologic system, that is where they're produced, your red blood
cells, your white blood cells, and your platelets.Those are all created in
that bone marrow.
So your plasma is made up.That's the fluid that the cells are in.
And it also contains, in addition to your red blood cells and your white blood
cells and your platelets. It also contains albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen.
Now your albumin, remember, is a protein that maintains osmotic
pressure. And that osmotic pressure, the albumin has these large
molecules, and it is able to prevent that plasma leak.
Your globulins are also very large proteins, and they help assist with immune
function.
And then fibrinogen is part of your clotting cascade. So fibrinogen helps to form
fibrin.
,2
Red blood cells transport oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from your body
tissues. They contain haemoglobin, which is that oxygen carrying molecule that
gives blood the bright red color that you see.The red blood cell surface also
carries antigens, which are substances that trigger immune responses, which
can also, in turn, these antigens can determine a person's blood type. RBCs, on
average, have a lifespan of about 120 days.
the bone marrow releases RBCs into circulation in an immature form and we call
that a reticulocyte and the reticulocytes mature within about a day so it takes
the reticulocytes about 24 hours to become a mature red blood cell and then the
spleen isolates those old red blood cells and removes them from circulation and
isolates them there.
white blood cells are also formed in the bone marrow. They have very
specialized functions. We have five different types of white blood cells that
participate in our body's defence and our immune systems. And they are
broken into either granulocytes or agranulocytes.
Your granulocytes are your neutrophils, your monocytes, your acinophils,
basophils, and your macrophages.
agranulocytes play a larger role with immunity and that is going to be your B
lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, that sort of thing.
All right, when we talk about platelets, platelets are our smallest blood cell in the
body.platelets are also formed in the bone marrow they're tiny little colourless
disc-shaped fragments that they split from cells in the bone marrow um in our
peripheral blood they make these this they're sticky and they contribute to the
blood clotting in three ways. 1. The first thing they do is they clump together to
plug very small defects
in small blood vessel walls.
2. They can also congregate at an injury site in a larger vessel
,3
to close the wound so that a clot can form
3. third way is they release substances thatstabilize the clot, such as things
like serotonin, which can reduce blood flow by the use of vasoconstriction, or
thromboplastin, which is an enzyme essential for clotting.
About 80% of our platelets are found in our circulation, and about 20% are stored
in the spleen.
spleen is made up of white pulp red pulp and marginal pulp so your spleen is in
your left upper abdominal quadrant right below your diaphragm and it's about
the size of your fist the interior spleen we call the splenic pulp and that's where
the white and the red pulp are located.
White pulp contains compact masses of lymphocytes and they surround the
splenic artery to kind of protect that splenic artery.
red pulp is this network of blood-filled sinuses that's supported by a framework
of fibers and phagocytes along with some lymphocytes, plasma cells, and
monocytes.
So that's the difference between your red and your white pulp.
Your spleen has several functions. It has phagocytic ability to engulf
and break down old red blood cells. It filters and removes bacteria and foreign
substances from the bloodstream.
Splenic phagocytes interact with lymphocytes to initiate an immune response
when needed. And your spleen also can store blood and 20 to 30 percent of your
platelets are also stored there.
liver, which is your other accessory organ that we spoke about, produces
prothrombin and other blood clotting factors. And its proper liver function is also
very important in the formation of vitamin K in the
, 4
intestinal tract. And if you remember, vitamin K is needed to produce our
clotting factors. Large amounts of whole blood and blood cells are also stored in
the liver, and it is capable of storing extra iron within the protein ferritin.
So the spleen and the liver play large roles in our hematologic system.
all right homeostasis and blood clotting so homeostasis is a complex process
where platelets plasma and coagulation factors interact to control bleeding so
when a blood vessel ruptures Local vasoconstriction and platelet clumping at
the injury site is the initial prevention of haemorrhage. This activation is the very
beginning of the coagulation system, and we call it the estrinsec cascade. And it
requires the release of tissue thromboplastin from the damaged cells for it to
begin.
From there, formation of a more stable clot requires an initiation of very
complex clotting mechanisms known as our intrinsic cascade system. And this
clotting system is activated by a protein called factor 10, which is one of 13
different substances needed for coagulation in our body.
The final result of the intrinsic and extrinsic cascade is a fibrin clot and accumulation of a
fibrous insoluble protein at the injury site.
But this breakdown of this three-step process, this is kind of the short version.
Okay, so health history.
There's some general information, like women tend to have a lower red blood
cell count than men. That is due to their menstrual cycle.
Our bone marrow function and our immunity just naturally decrease with age.
But when we're doing our health assessment, we need to ask, make sure we ask
our patients. We need to know specifically when
