• Question: Why do humans have spleens, as the function of them is very unclear?

    Asked by annieblower to Emma on 25 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 25 Jun 2012:

      Good question 🙂

      The spleen is a very useful organ, even though we don’t necessarily need it to survive. It functions in a few different ways

      1) This is where old red blood cells are removed from our circulation

      2) It holds a reserve of blood so if, for example, you have a nasty accident and you are bleeding a lot (think road accident rather than paper cut!) then the spleen basically squeezes and forces the blood it has been holding into the circulation so that your body can still circulate enough blood to get oxygen to your whole body.

      3)It also has a role in our immune system and is one of the places where antibodies (which attack any disease-causing organisms that get into our bodies) are made. It also produces other cells involved in our immune systems.

      4) When we are still in our mother’s womb the spleen also makes red blood cells. Our spleens stopped doing this when our mums were about 5 months pregnant.

      So the spleen does quite a lot of things, and actually, although we can survive without it, not having one does put us at more risk from certain bacteria. I’m certainly glad I’ve got one!

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