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Blood flows from the heart through arteries, which branch and narrow into arterioles, and then branch further into capillaries where nutrients and wastes are exchanged. The capillaries then join and widen to become venules , which in turn widen and converge to become veins , which then return blood back to the heart through the venae cavae .
Blood flow in the pulmonary and systemic circulations showing capillary networks in the torso sections. The circulatory system includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood. [2] The cardiovascular system in all vertebrates, consists of the heart and blood vessels.
Cardiac physiology or heart function is the study of healthy, unimpaired function of the heart: involving blood flow; myocardium structure; the electrical conduction system of the heart; the cardiac cycle and cardiac output and how these interact and depend on one another.
Their function is to regulate blood flow before it enters the capillaries and venules by the contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle found on their walls. The second sector is the capillary sector, which is represented by the capillaries, where substance and gas exchange between blood and interstitial fluid takes place.
Pressure drops gradually as blood flows from the major arteries, through the arterioles, the capillaries until blood is pushed up back into the heart via the venules, the veins through the vena cava with the help of the muscles. At any given pressure drop, the flow rate is determined by the resistance to the blood flow.
The sphincter can open and close the entrance to the capillary, by which contraction causes blood flow in a capillary to change as vasomotion occurs. [4] [unreliable source?] In some tissues, the entire capillary bed may be bypassed by blood flow through arteriovenous anastomoses or through preferential flow through metarterioles. [2]
Interruptions of coronary circulation quickly cause heart attacks (myocardial infarctions), in which the heart muscle is damaged by oxygen starvation. Such interruptions are usually caused by coronary ischemia linked to coronary artery disease, and sometimes to embolism from other causes like obstruction in blood flow through vessels.
In a healthy vascular system, the endothelium lines all blood-contacting surfaces, including arteries, arterioles, veins, venules, capillaries, and heart chambers. This healthy condition is promoted by the ample production of nitric oxide by the endothelium, which requires a biochemical reaction regulated by a complex balance of polyphenols, various nitric oxide synthase enzymes and L-arginine.