Blood Vessels

• The Cardiovascular system has three types of blood vessels:

  • Arteries
  • Capillaries
  • Veins
• Blood vessels?

  • Transport oxygen, nutrients and wastes around the body.
  • Arteries transport blood AWAY from the heart.
  • Veins transport blood TOWARDS the heart.
• Blood vessels vary in size

  Arteries - Arterioles - Capillaries - Venules - Veins
• Arteries

  • Carry blood away from the heart are elastic, large and thick-walled
  • The aorta is the largest artery in the body because large amounts of blood pass into this artery directly from the heart (left ventricle)
• Coronary arteries

  • Deliver oxygen and nutrients to the heart from the aorta
• Blockage of coronary arteries?

  • One of the most common causes of heart attack
  • Occurs due to insufficient physical activity and high-saturated fat diet
• Capillaries?

  • Capillaries form the connection between the body’s smallest arteries and veins
  • Have thin walls which are only one cell thick
  • They deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells while removing carbon dioxide from the lungsPrecapillary sphincters’
  • Where exchange of gases between cells and blood takes place
  • Blood flow through capillaries is controlled by structures called ‘
• Veins

  • Carry blood back to the heart
  • By the time blood reaches the veins, the flow is steady and consistent.
• One-way valves in veins stop blood from returning from where it came from.