1 / 13

Blood vessels

Blood vessels. Dejan Tkalec Mentor: A. Žmegač Horvat. What are blood vessels?. intricate networks of tubes that transport blood throughout the entire body. Types of vessels:. Arteries Veins Capillaries Sinusoids. Arteries Transport blood away from the heart Carry oxygenated blood

silver
Download Presentation

Blood vessels

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Blood vessels Dejan Tkalec Mentor: A. Žmegač Horvat

  2. What are blood vessels? • intricate networks of tubes that transport blood throughout the entire body

  3. Types of vessels: • Arteries • Veins • Capillaries • Sinusoids

  4. Arteries • Transport blood away from the heart • Carry oxygenated blood • Have relatively narrow lumens • Have relatively more muscle/elastic tissue • Transport blood under higher pressure • Do not have valves (except for the semi-lunar valves of the pulmonary artery and the aorta) Veins • Transport blood towards the heart • Carry de-oxygenated blood • Have relatively wide lumens • Have relatively less muscle/elastic tissue • Transport blood under lower pressure • Have valves throughout the main veins of the body (except venae cavae)

  5. Histology • Arteries and veins have the same structure: • Tunica intima: single layer of simple squamous endothelial cells, surrounded by a thin layer of elastic bands – internal elastic lamina • Tunica media (thickest layer): circularly arranged elastic fibers, connective tissue, polysaccharide substances surrounded by external elastic lamina; rich in vascular smooth muscle (especially in arteries) • Tunica adventitia: entirely made of connective tissue; contains nerves that supply the vessel

  6. Functions • Transporting blood away from the heart • Transporting oxygenated blood across the body • Transporting blood from arteries to capillaries • Draining blood from capillaries into veins and exchanging oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and salt between the body and surrounding tissues • Arterioles -main regulators of blood pressure and flow • Capillaries - assist in supplying body tissues with necessary components of blood

  7. Common problems • Aneurysm - weak spot in the wall of an artery • Atherosclerosis - narrowing of the arteries caused by plaque deposits • Heart disease - lack of blood supply to the heart because of narrowed arteries • High blood pressure - can be caused by obesity, diabetes, rich salt diet, smoking, high cholesterol, kidney disease... • Varicose veins - problems with valves that stop blood from running backwards

  8. Aorta • Largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two common iliacs • Usually divided into 5 segments: • Ascending aorta • Arch of aorta • Descending aorta • Thoracic aorta • Abdominal aorta

  9. Other major arteries

  10. References • http://biology.about.com/library/organs/heart/blblood.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_vessel • http://www.ivy-rose.co.uk/HumanBody/Blood/Blood_Vessels.php • http://www.ehow.com/about_5110377_functions-blood-vessel.html • http://video.about.com/heartdisease/How-the-Heart-Functions.htm

More Related