Lymphatic

• Lymph is tissue fluid that is absorbed into the lymph capillary rather than the blood capillary
• Tissue fluid is plasma without proteins which is forced out of the capillary walls and bathes cells.
• How is tissue fluid formed at the arteriole end?

  1. Blood enters the arteriole at high pressure
  2. High hydrostatic pressure causes plasma to be forced through the capillary walls to surrounding cells forming tissue fluid
• What happens to tissue fluid at the venuole end?

  1. Hydrostatic pressure decreases due to lower blood volume
  2. Water potential is low in the capillary due to blood proteins causing water to move back into the blood by osmosis as the osmotic pressure is higher
  3. Waste products from respiring cells diffuse into the tissue fluid which then diffuse into the blood
• What happens to tissue fluid which isn't reabsorbed back into the blood?

  Some of the tissue fluid enters the lymphatic system and forms lymph which eventually returns back to the venuous system by traveling through the thoracic duct which empties into the left subclavian vein above the heart