The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-04-26

questions OF general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
of the entire volume. The rest Of
the blood is the plasma, or serum,
which is a clear, yellowish fluid.
We discussed the red cells last
week. Today l want to call at
tention to the activities Of all the
chemicals that are contained in
the blood plasma. This carries all
the food to the tissues, all the min
erals and vitamins. Our knowl-
edge of blood chemistry has be-
come very accurate in the last
quarter-century.
Contents Of Blood
A chemist estimates that in this
half-bucket of blood there is dis
solved a teaspoonful of sugar and
a tablespoonful Of ordinary table
salt, and about a tablespoonful Of
sodium bicarbonate or ordinary
baking soda. There are about six
5-grain capsules Of heterogeneous
products in the blood, and about
400 of a grain of iodine. There
is from a teaspoonful to a table
spoonful of fat.
These substances are all in a
state of flux and it is, indeed, a
very busy chemical factory. These
substances are, of course, all de-
rived from the food. After diges-
ton they are carried to the liver
most of them-and there changed
into forms which the cells can
utilize. Some part of them is
stored in the liver and the rest
released in the blood stream.
The teaspoonful of; sugar which
is contained in your half bucket Of
blood is there for quick energy. It
is like gasoline in the carburetor.
When a muscle contracts, no mat
ter how little, a certain amount Of
this energy chemical is used up,
unites with oxygen, literally
burns, and releases energy by
minute and inaudible explosion.
If you do a good stint of hard,
muscular work, the teaspoonful of
sugar in your blood is quickly used
up and the body calls upon the re-
serves of sugar which are stored
in the liver-as it would the gas
oline in the tank.
The person with diabetes, in
stead of having one teaspoonful
has about two teaspoonfuls Of
sugar in his blood and he can't
get rid Of itin the muscles because
the sparker is not working.
A similar outline could be made
for the way all the other chemical
constituents of the blood are used
but some Of the processes are
quite technical and difficult to ex-
plain.
The body is, however, a very
busy factory, indeed. and, Of
course, it creates heat, which is
the temperature Of your body.
There are no strikes, and no walk
outs, and no picketing, and no
collective bargaining among the
workers of the body, for if any of
them stop for any length of time,
there wouldn't be any body, there
wouldn't be any factory and no.
body would get paid anything.
Maybe there is a lesson in this.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
R. H.:-"The employees of the
st. Louis, Missouri, post Office wish
to organize blood donors group,
the purpose being to maintain a
record Of the blood type Of each
member so that donors may be OBJ
tanned quickly in the event of an
emergency. In reply to our in
quiries as to whether blood types
of individuals are subject TO
change, we have received contra
dictory answers. We are writing
to ask you whether you will be
kind enough TO tell US: "a
Whether the blood-types Of indi-
viduals change with time. (2) II
so, do such changes occur at ap-
proximately regular intervals, so
that it would be advisable to have
re-checks at one-year, two-year,
or three-year periods, or whatever
the time interval would be? (3)
Is it probable that The list of typ
ings would remain relatively ac-
eurate?"
Answer - Blood types do not
change. l believe this has been
definitely settled all over the
world.
S. NJ. S.:-"Please tell me the
effect Of popcorn on the system.
We find it very tasty after meals
and wonder if it may have some
harmful effect"
Answer-No, it is a very good
form Of cathartic and also has
considerable nourishment.