Vascular system physiology dr sallama

 
Blood Vessels
•      Blood is carried in a closed system of vessels that begins and ends at
the heart
•      The three major types of vessels are arteries, capillaries, and veins
•      Arteries carry blood away from the heart, veins carry blood toward
the heart
•      Capillaries contact tissue cells and directly serve cellular needs

Generalized Structure of Blood Vessels

•      Arteries and veins are composed of  three tunics – tunica interna,
tunica media, and tunica externa
•      Capillaries are composed of endothelium with basal lamina
•      Lumen – central blood-containing space surrounded by tunics

Tunics
•      Tunica interna (tunica intima)
•    Endothelial layer that lines the lumen of all vessels
•    In vessels larger than 1 mm, a subendothelial connective tissue
basement membrane is present
•      Tunica media
•    Smooth muscle and elastic fiber layer, regulated by sympathetic
nervous system
•    Controls vasoconstriction/vasodilation of vessels
•      Tunica externa (tunica adventitia)
•    Collagen fibers that protect and reinforce vessels

Elastic (Conducting) Arteries

•      Thick-walled arteries near the heart; the aorta and its major branches
•    Large lumen allow low-resistance conduction of blood
•    Contain elastin in all three tunics
•    Withstand and smooth out large blood pressure fluctuations
•    Allow blood to flow fairly continuously through the body

Muscular Arteries and Arterioles

•      Muscular arteries – distal to elastic arteries; deliver blood to body
organs
1 •    Have thick tunica media with more smooth muscle and less elastic
tissue 2 •    Active in vasoconstriction
•      Arterioles – smallest arteries; lead to capillary beds
•    Control flow into capillary beds via vasodilation and constriction

Capillaries
•      Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels
•    Walls consisting of a thin tunica interna, one cell thick
•    Allow only a single RBC to pass at a time
•    Pericytes on the outer surface stabilize their walls
•      There are three structural types of capillaries: continuous,
fenestrated, and sinusoids

Blood pressure (BP)
.Is the pressure of circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels

It is one of the vital signs, along with respiratory rate, heart

.rate, oxygen saturation, and body temperature

Resting blood pressure in an adult is approximately 120 millimeters

of mercury systolic, and 80 millimeters of mercury diastolic, abbreviated
.""120/80 mmHg

Blood pressure is influenced by cardiac output, total peripheral

resistance and arterial stiffness and varies depending on situation,
emotional state, activity, and relative health/disease states

Blood pressure that is low due to a disease state is called hypotension,

.and pressure that is consistently high is hypertension

Both have many causes and may be of sudden onset or of long

duration. Long term hypertension is a risk factor for many diseases,
.including heart disease, stroke and kidney failure

Long term hypertension is more common than long term

.hypotension

Classification
1-systemic arterial pressure
2-Mean arterial pressure
3-Pulse pressure
4-Systemic venous pressure
5-Pulmonary pressure

Systole on the left and diastole on the right

During each heartbeat, blood pressure varies between a maximum

(systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) pressure.
  The blood pressure in the circulation is principally due to the
pumping action of the heart.
 Differences in mean blood pressure are responsible for blood flow
from one location to another in the circulation.
The rate of mean blood flow depends on both blood pressure and the
resistance to flow presented by the blood vessels.
Mean blood pressure decreases as the circulating bloodmoves away
from the heart through arteries and capillaries due to viscous losses of
energy.
Mean blood pressure drops over the whole circulation, although
most of the fall occurs along the small arteries and arterioles.
Gravity affects blood pressure via hydrostatic forces (e.g., during
standing), and valves in veins, breathing, and pumping from contraction
of skeletal muscles also influence blood pressure in veins.

Factors affecting blood pressure are:

1-Blood volume: the greater the blood volume, the higher the cardiac
output. There is some relationship between dietary salt intake and
increased blood volume, potentially resulting in higher arterial
pressure, though this varies with the individual and is highly
dependent on autonomic nervous system response and the renin–
angiotensin system.

2-Cardiac output: the pumping action of the heart is ultimately

responsible for blood pressure. Increases or decreases in cardiac
output can result in increases or decreases respectively in blood
pressure.

3-Systemic vascular resistance: the higher the resistance to blood

flow, the higher the arterial pressure upstream needs to be to maintain
flow.

In simple terms, resistance is related to:

1- vessel radius so the smaller the radius, the very much higher the
resistance.
2- vessel length (the longer the vessel, the higher the resistance),
blood viscosity (the higher the viscosity, the higher the resistance)
3- the presence of an arterial stenosis (a narrow stenosis increases
resistance to flow.
4-  Substances called vasoconstrictors can reduce the calibre of blood
vessels, thereby increasing blood pressure.
5-  Vasodilators  increase the calibre of blood vessels, thereby
decreasing arterial pressure