I vaguely know about how blood is made, but what stops the body from making way too much? And if the person isn’t done growing, how does the amount of blood increase until adulthood then not keep going? I’m probably overthinking this, I just have a lot of time to think at work. Thank you.
Edit: Thank you everyone for answering my question. I really appreciated the mix of simplified and more detailed responses. This was such a great opportunity to learn from experts, and you made me want to learn more. Also, you answered my follow up questions before I got around to asking them, so thank you for that, too.
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It sounds like you think you stop making blood when you finish growing, but actually your body is always making new blood! Red blood cells only last around 120 days so your body is continually replacing them, you’re constantly adding liquid to your blood when you drink and your kidneys are continually removing liquid as part of filtering the blood.
It’s a constant process and your body is continually monitoring things like the blood pressure, oxygen content and saltines of your blood (you need that to live) and adjusts the rates of making new blood / removing old blood to keep things in balance.
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