Blood Vessels & the Cardiac Cycle Flashcards
1
Q
What is a vein?
A
- transports blood from organs to heart
(usually at low pressure)
2
Q
What are venules?
A
- venules are narrower blood vessels which transport blood from capillaries to the veins
3
Q
What is an artery?
A
- transports blood away from heart to organs
4
Q
What are aterioles?
A
- arteries branch into narrower blood vessels called arterioles which transport blood into capillaries
5
Q
What is a capillary?
A
- capillaries are microscopic blood vessels that carry blood to the cells
- they have thin, ‘leaky’ walls which allow substances to leave the blood to reach the body’s tissues
6
Q
What is collagen?
A
- collagen is a fibrous structural protein
- makes blood vessels strong and durable
7
Q
What are elastic fibres
A
- made from the protein elastin
- giving stretching and bending properties to tissues
- helps withstand high blood pressure
8
Q
What does elastic tissue allow?
A
- elastic tissue allows the walls to stretch and recoil
9
Q
What does smooth muscle help with? What is it lined with and how does this do?
A
- smooth muscle helps blood flow
- smooth muscle lined with smooth endothelium reduces friction and creates less restriction for the blood to move through
10
Q
What is striated muscle?
A
- striated muscles are muscles attached to the skeleton
11
Q
What is the structure of a vein? (need to know what they look like)
A
- the outer coat= connective tissue with collagen fibres
- inside of wall = muscle and elastic tissue
- wall of vessel = endothelium
- wide lumen
12
Q
What do veins have?
A
- wide lumen
- thinner walls
- less collagen and smooth muscle, fewer elastic fibres
- valves
13
Q
what is the structure of an artery? (need to know what it looks like)
A
- outer coat = connective tissue with collagen fibres
- inside the wall = muscle and elastic tissue
- wall of vessel = endothelium
- narrower lumen
14
Q
What do arteries have?
A
- narrow lumen
- thicker walls
- more collagen, smooth muscle and elastic fibres
- no valves
15
Q
What is the structure of a capillary? What is the size of a capillary? (need to know what it looks like)
A
- wall of capillary = endothelium
- walls of capillaries are one cell thick
- has (small) lumen
- is 10µm (micrometers)