Circulatory System: Double Edged Sword

In our bodies we use our circulatory system to transport blood cells throughout our body. Our vessels reach almost every aspect of our bodies. This is important. Oxygen is the lifeline of our bodies, so it is important for our body to have a method of distributing it to all our cells in a quick and easy fashion. In order for the oxygen to be used by the body, they need a lot of energy, so fatty acids are transported to almost every cell for this purpose, as they are great carriers of energy (Frederickson, 1958). They can also be used in complex lipids that serve as the basis for the construction of many organelles and cells.

A model of the human circulatory system. All the lines represent vessels, the vessels reach almost everywhere in the body. They make contact with every major component of the body.

Different messengers can travel through the circulatory system to reach that same audience of cells. One such messenger is lipoprotein. Lipoproteins travel through the circulatory system to help tissues regulate their lipid levels (Fielding, 1991).  This regulation occurs under a constantly changing physiological conditions. The lipoproteins are regulated by the cholesterol levels of the environment of the cells (Fielding 2002). Like notch signaling, the circulatory system responds to the environment and its needs.

However, our circulatory system can be used against us. A study found that cancer cells can use the circulatory system to travel through the body and interact with specific organs (Chambers, 2002). And this is not only for Humans. Microscopic plastic debris were found to travel within mussel organisms through their circulatory system where they ended up in the tissues of the mussels (Browne, 2008).

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