Verified Document

Blood Vessel Resistance And Heart Function. In Term Paper

¶ … blood vessel resistance and heart function. In the paper, four peer reviewed journals are looked at to highlight any potential relationship between blood vessel resistance and the heart's functioning. In normal functioning of the heart, there are critical factors that influence blood resistance. These factors include blood vessel's radius, blood viscosity and vessel length (Cinar, Demir, Pac, & Cinar, 1999). Of the three factors, vessel diameter is the most important in determining blood vessel resistance and heart functioning. Vessel changes due to contraction and relaxation of the vascular smooth muscle in the wall of the blood vessel directly influencing blood resistance which then affects heart functioning. In addition, small variations in vessel diameter leads to large changes in resistance which affect heart functioning.

Effect of Blood Vessel Radius on Blood Flow Rate

Increase or decrease in blood vessel radius can either increase or reduce blood flow rate to the heart. When blood vessels dilate, the flow of blood is increased due to a decrease in vascular resistance. Therefore, dilation of arterial blood vessels causes a decrease in blood pressure. The widening of blood vessels which bring changes in their radii thus takes a lot of blood into the...

This may lead to heart fatigue due to the pumping of increasing blood volumes by the heart (Huang-Wen, Tzu-Ching, & Chihng-Tsung, 2010). In addition, increased vessel radius affect blood pressure thus, changing the heart valve orifice size increasing blood flow and pressure gradients across heart valves. Besides, the higher the blood volume in the body, the higher the blood flow rate to the heart resulting in high cardiac output.
The narrowing of the blood vessels is the other factor that may affect blood flow rate as well as the normal functioning of the heart. Reduction of blood cells radii always occurs as a result of contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, particularly the large arteries and small arterioles (Campbell, Dawes, Fishman, & Hyman, 1967). When blood vessels constrict, the flow of blood is restricted or decreased, thus, increasing vascular resistance. Vasoconstriction of the blood vessels thus increases heart rate, stroke volume and thus the cardiac output. The more constricted arterioles are, the greater their resistance to blood flow and the higher the blood pressure. Constriction of arterioles increases blood pressure because more pressure is needed to force blood through the narrower space. The narrowing of…

Sources used in this document:
References

Campbell, M.A., Dawes, G.S., Fishman, A.P., & Hyman, A.I. (1967). Pulmonary Vasoconstriction and Changes in Heart Rate during Asphyxia in Immature Foetal Lambs. The Journal of Physiology, 93-110.

Cinar, Y., Demir, G., Pac, M., & Cinar, A.B. (1999). Effect of Hematocrit on Blood Pressure Via Hyperviscosity. The American Journal of Hypertension, 739-743.

Huang-Wen, H., Tzu-Ching, S., & Chihng-Tsung, L. (2010). Predicting Effects of Blood Flow Rate and Size of Vessels in a Vasculature on Hyperthermia Treatments using Computer Simulation. BioMed Engineering Journal, 9-18.

Kelly, C.J. (2005). Effects of Theobromine should be Considered in Future Studies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 486-487.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Blood Pressure in Pregnancy
Words: 11032 Length: 36 Document Type: Term Paper

Korotkoff Phase Should Be Used as the Endpoint for the Measurement of Diastolic Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Literature Selection and Identification Critical Appraisal of Selected Literature Five Korotkoff Phases Conducting System of Human Heart Two of the most common complicating problems seen during pregnancy are the appearance of gestational diabetes and of hypertension. Both of these conditions are more likely to occur during late pregnancy and both generally abate in the postpartum period. Nevertheless,

Aspirin for Acute Myocardial Infarction
Words: 13907 Length: 51 Document Type: Research Proposal

5% while 70.5% took Aspirin within six hours after reaching hospital and 76.5% of patients admitted in the NICVD were receiving Aspirin therapy." (Jaiwa, 2006, p.1) Jaiwa reports a more recent study that states findings that out of 52 patients with chest pain only 13 patients or 25% of the 52 received aspirin. The stated reason for not giving aspirin to the other 39 patients included that "chest pain was not

Consultant Pharmacists Impact on the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia...
Words: 32313 Length: 116 Document Type: Thesis

Consultant Pharmacists Impact on the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia What is Cholesterol, and Why is it of Concern? Guidelines for Treating Hypercholesterolemia Management of Hypercholesterolemia Management of Hypercholesterolemia By Different Health Care Workers. Practical Management of Hypercholesterolemia Community Pharmacists and the Management of Hypercholesterolemia Economic Impact of Pharmacists' Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia This paper will look at the impact of consultant pharmacists on the treatment of hypercholesterolemia by physicians. Pharmacists have now assumed responsibilities outside the dispensing counter and have

A Case Study Involving Hypertension
Words: 2259 Length: 8 Document Type: Case Study

Hypertension Essential hypertension or primary hypertension is a highly complex disorder. There are various factors modulating BP or blood pressure in order for adequate tissue perfusion to occur. These include: Vascular reactivity Vascular caliber Humoral mediators Circulating blood volume Blood viscosity Blood vessel elasticity Cardiac output Neural stimulation History of high blood pressure in family Ethnic background Aside from these factors, the natural course of primary hypertension is progression from infrequent or occasional to established or frequent hypertension. There is a

New Technology the Best Cure
Words: 13809 Length: 50 Document Type: Term Paper

Taken in isolation, some of the new, minimally-invasive procedures are less expensive by far, when analyzed on a procedure-by-procedure basis, than previous significant surgical interventions, as demonstrated below: Procedure Cost Estimated duration of 'cure' CABG 5-7 years PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention 3-5 years Based on the above analysis, it would appear to be clear that a PCI is more cost-effective than CABG procedures. This may not be true when all costs are considered, however. The logic of

Cocoa the Cacao Tree Theobroma Cacao What
Words: 10319 Length: 30 Document Type: Term Paper

Cocoa THE CACAO TREE (THEOBROMA CACAO) WHAT IS IN THE COCOA BEAN? MAKING AND EATING CHOCOLATE State of the Art of Cocoa Is Cocoa good for you? Burden of Proof CHOCOLATE AS A FAT EFFECTS ON BLOOD LIPIDS WHAT IS OK CHOCOLATE AND HEALTH AND DISEASE Chocolate Craving F. Migraine G. Toxicity H. Immune Function Allergy J. Other Disorders K. Behavior L. Antioxidants M. Caffeine N. Dental Caries O. Migraines P. Obesity Serum Cholesterol K. Heart Health Pacemakers and vitamin pills are just among a few of millions of health products that are sold

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now