19. The Blood Vessels

a. Define blood pressure. Differentiate between systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

b. What is the normal blood pressure value for an adult?

Your friend Jillian, who knows little about science, is reading a magazine article about a patient who had an 'aneurysm at the base of his brain that suddenly grew much larger.' The surgeons' first goal was to 'keep it from rupturing,' and the second goal was to 'relieve the pressure on the brain stem and cranial nerves.' The surgeons were able to 'replace the aneurysm with a section of plastic tubing,' so the patient recovered. Jillian asks you what all this means. Explain.

Which of the following factors would increase peripheral resistance?

a. Increased blood viscosity

b. Shorter vessel

c. Vasodilation

d. An increase in vessel radius

Vern is suffering from cardiac arrhythmias and is brought into the emergency room of a hospital. In the emergency room he begins to exhibit tachycardia and as a result loses consciousness. Explain why Vern lost consciousness.

The carotid sinus contains:

a. Baroreceptors

b. Chemoreceptors

c. Metabolic controls

d. Smooth muscle cells

The most important factor in vascular resistance is:

(a) The viscosity of the blood

(b) The diameter of the lumen of blood vessels

(c) Turbulence due to irregular surfaces of blood vessels

(d) The length of the blood vessels

Which of the following would not result in the dilation of the terminal arterioles and upstream arterioles in systemic capillary beds?

a. A decrease in local tissue O₂ content

b. An increase in local tissue CO₂

c. A local increase in histamine

d. A local increase in pH

Predict the effects of each of the following on systemic arterial blood pressure:

Caffeine consumption, which increases heart rate and causes vasoconstriction

Mark the following statements as true or false. If a statement is false, correct it to make a true statement.

Arterioles reflexively dilate when blood pressure increases.

Blood vessels primarily impact resistance to blood flow by:

Ms. Rodgers has been diagnosed with secretion of inappropriate ADH syndrome (SIADH). What effect will SIADH have on the amount of water in her body? What symptoms would you expect from this condition? How would it affect her blood pressure and net filtration pressure?

Mr. Grimaldi was previously diagnosed as having a posterior pituitary tumor that causes hypersecretion of ADH. He comes to the clinic regularly to have his blood pressure checked. Would you expect his blood pressure to be chronically elevated or depressed? Why?

What are the primary forces that cause fluid to move?

(a) Out of a capillary at its arterial end and into the interstitial fluid

(b) Into a capillary at its venous end from the interstitial fluid?

Mark the following statements as true or false. If a statement is false, correct it to make a true statement.

The sympathetic nervous system increases blood pressure in the short term by increasing cardiac output and peripheral resistance.

Mark the following statements as true or false. If a statement is false, correct it to make a true statement.

The sympathetic nervous system causes vasodilation in the skin when body temperature decreases.