Cardiovascular 2 Flashcards
Blood pressures throughout the circulation
- Blood pressure oscillates continuously, at least in the arterial circulation.
- High blood pressure in the large arteries is linked to ventricular contraction.
- Blood pressure falls steeply across the “resistance vessels”, capillaries and venules, collectively called the microcirculation.
- The microcirculation belongs to organs or tissues.
- Blood pressure is very low in veins.
- The pressure difference from left to right side of the heart creates a driving force (∆P) for blood flow through the systemic circulation.
Arterial pressure profiles in systemic and pulmonary circulations
- Cardiac cycle - the time between one beat and another
- Systole - heart contracting
- Diastole - heart relaxing
- Elevation - dicrotic notch (aortic valve closing)
- Flows between circuits are the same
- Resistance is lower in the pulmonary circuit - pulmonary blood pressure is lower then systemic
Arterial blood pressure during rest
- Arterial (systemic) blood pressure is ‘regulated’ within a narrow range
- Each heart beat is different
- Heart rate is not constant
Young vs Old arterial blood pressure responses during cycling
Young people
- Diastolic pressure will not change, however systolic pressure will increases as a function of exercise intensity increases
Older people
- Diastolic pressure will not change, however systolic pressure will increases as a function of exercise intensity increases
- Ageing increases blood pressure
- Stiffer arterial system
- Larger difference between systolic pressure and diastolic
Blood pressure responses during maximum graded exercise
- The peak blood pressure are not affected by training
- In young healthy individual regardless of their training status, the percent change in their mean arterial pressure from rest to the peak value (VO2Max) is roughly equal to 30%
Blood pressure responses in trained vs untrained
Pressure is similar for both states because there is a counter balancing influence
- Trained - high flow, low resistance
- Untrained - low flow, high resistance
Graph - MAP increases by about 30%
Does it operate during exercise? (NOT IN NOTES)
- Vasodilation
- Baroreflex
- Evidence for rapid vasodilation (fall in TPR) leasing to fall in blood pressure and then a compensatory increase in TPR
- This suggests the baroreflex is ‘active’ during exercise and that the regulation of blood pressure during exercise involves counterbalancing adjustments of cardiac output and TPR.
Equation for pressure
∆P = Q(dot) x R
Q = flow R = resistance
Arterial blood pressure is affected by cardiac output and arterial resistance
- Blood flow into and leaving systemic arteries
- Blood flow into the systemic arteries is generated by contraction of the left ventricle, and this blood flow is called cardiac output.
- Blood flow leaving the systemic arterial system is controlled by the resistance of the arteries.
- Increasing either cardiac output (increasing flow in) or arterial resistance (decreasing flow out) will increase arterial blood volume and pressure.
- Therefore, arterial blood pressure is determined by cardiac output and arterial resistance (or ‘total peripheral resistance’).
- MAP = CO × TPR (arterial resistance)
Regulation of arterial blood pressure occurs through the control of cardiac output and arterial resistance
- During exercise
- Arterial blood pressure (MAP) varies as a function of CO and TPR (below).
- MAP is maintained with narrow limits, is considered to be a ‘regulated variable’, and is perhaps the most important CV variable.
- CO and TPR can be varied across a wider range than MAP and are thought of as controlled variables.
- Thus the regulation of MAP occurs through the control of CO and TPR.
- During exercise, rapid dilation of blood vessels in contracting muscles reduces TPR and, if CO did not change, would cause MAP to fall and reduce blood flow to all organs.
- But this does not normally occur and the fall in TPR is somewhat counterbalanced by an increase in cardiac output so that MAP changes minimally (lower intensities) or increases by a small amount (higher intensities).
- This regulation of BP through adjustments of CO and/or TPR is the hallmark of the ‘baroreflex’
Physiology of BP regulation during exercise
Blood Flow - increases as intensity increases then plateaus
Mean Pressure - Increases by 30% during maximal graded exercise
- Systolic pressure: slowly increases at lower intensities but increases rapidly at higher intensity
- Diastolic pressure: Constant
Vascular Resistance - Decreases due to vasodilation
Baroreflex concept
- The regulation of blood pressure (maintaining constancy) requires a set-point value for BP about which a system of cardiovascular sensors and effectors operate.
- The set-point is a ‘normal’ value which the system tries to maintain.
- When BP is driven away from its set-point value in a short timeframe (seconds), the cardiovascular system (sensors and effectors) restores BP back to its set-point.
- This response is the arterial baroreceptor reflex, or ‘baroreflex’.
Cardiovascular Sensor and what do they detect
Baroreceptors - detect changes in stretch
- Carotid baroreceptors
- Aortic baroreceptors
Send message to effecter - medulla oblongata
Cardiovascular Effectors
Medulla oblongata which controls TPR & CO
Baroreflex
- If blood pressure falls below…
Sensing (stimulus) -> Adjusting (response)
- If blood pressure falls below set point, the nerves running out of the medulla to the heart and blood vessels increase their firing rate to cause an increase in blood output in the heart and increase constriction of blood vessels - high frequency firing due to fall in blood pressure
- Opposite for an increase in blood pressure