How does the oxygen dissociation curve of fetal hemoglobin differ from adult hemoglobin? What is the physiological significance of this difference?

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: Fetal hemoglobin has a higher affinity for oxygen than adult hemoglobin (the curve is left-shifted). Oxygen diffuses down a PO2 gradient from the maternal to the fetal blood in the placenta. Therefore the PO2 tends to be lower in the fetal blood than the mother's blood. The higher affinity of fetal hemoglobin allows it to be near saturated despite the lower PO2, enhancing fetal blood oxygen transport.

Anatomy & Physiology

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You have a patient who, following a stroke, has impaired comprehension of language. The MRI is likely to reveal damage in which area?

A. Wernicke's area B. Limbic system C. Broca's area D. Hypothalamus E. Damage to any of these areas could cause this symptom

Anatomy & Physiology

An inverted bell-shaped curve represents the distribution of phenotypes of a multifactorial trait in a population.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Anatomy & Physiology

When there is no air movement, the relationship between the intrapulmonary and atmospheric pressure is that

A) they are equal. B) intrapulmonary pressure is greater than atmospheric. C) atmospheric pressure is less than intrapulmonary. D) atmospheric pressure is more than intrapulmonary. E) intrapulmonary pressure is less than atmospheric.

Anatomy & Physiology

The structure that connects the auricle to the tympanic membrane is called the ________

A) external acoustic meatus B) lobule C) vestibule D) helix

Anatomy & Physiology