Blood Vessels Flashcards
What are the main blood vessels?
Arteries, Veins and Capillaries. Their structure is related to their function
What is the role of the arteries?
Arteries carry blood away from the heart towards the organs. Substances from the blood can’t pass through artery walls.
What is the structure of an artery?
An artery has a thick, elastic, muscular wall to cope with the high pressure in the vessel.
What is the role of the veins?
Veins carry blood from the organs back to the heart. Substances can’t pass through the vain’s walls.
What is the structure of a vein?
A vein has a thinner wall than an artery and has less elastic muscular fibre due to the lower pressure in the vessel.
Veins have pocket values along their length to keep blood flowing in the right direction.
What is the role of the capillaries?
Capillaries are very narrow vessels that carry blood between arteries and veins, and through organs.
What is the structure of a capillary?
They have walls made of a single layer of cells. It’s here that substances are exchanged between blood and body cells.
