Question

A male body contains 5 to 6 liters of blood, whereas a female body contains 4 to 5 liters. why do you think there is a difference between the two? assuming the above is true for your gender (5.5l in males and 4.5l in females), how long would it take for the entire volume to be pumped through your body one time. refer to your calculations for cardiac output and show all of your work.

Answer 1

Answer:

There are several reasons for the difference in the blood volume present in males and females.

Few of them are:

Hormones: presence of testosterone in males promotes erythropoiesis. In addition, presence of estrogen in females inhibits erythropoiesis.

Menstrual loss: Females loss few amount of blood every month through menstrual cycle.

Cardiac output can be calculated by multiplying heart rate with stroke volume.

In healthy male at rest, the heart rate is approximately equal to 70beats per minute and stroke volume is approximately equal to 70-80 ml per minute.

Thus, approximately 5000ml or 5 litre of blood is pumped through the heart per minute.

Answer 2

Though we say that women have lost a lot of blood during menstruation might the cause of low blood volume, but this is not the case.

Testosterone being the male hormone causes an increase in red blood cells production which is responsible for the difference. Testosterone derivatives can also be used to treat anaemia.