Compare And Contrast The Cardiovascular System

Compare and contrast Structure:
The main objective of the cardiovascular system is to transport materials around the body with blood serving as its transport medium. Blood is contained and transported in hollow tubes known as blood vessels. The body has three main types: Arteries, capillaries and Veins. All arteries (with the exception of pulmonary and umbilical arteries) transport Oxygenated blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. They branch off into smaller structures named arterioles which lead to the Capillaries. In the capillaries the blood exchanges materials (e.g. o2 and CO2) with the tissue fluid of neighbouring cell. Afterwards the deoxygenated blood travels out of the capillary network, through the venules (smaller veins) and to the veins. The veins then transport the blood back to the heart. …show more content…
They are all hollow tubes with holes known as lumens. The size of the lumen varies depending on the type of the blood vessels. The capillaries have the narrowest lumen, of only one cell thickness. This slows down blood flow in the capillaries giving it enough time for gaseous exchange i.e in the lungs. This is followed the lumen of the arteries which is narrower than that of the veins. This helps the blood travelling through it maintain higher blood pressure. The lumen of the veins is larger, as blood is travelling through it at much slower rate.
The walls of blood vessels consist of different layers or tunics. All of the three of them have an inner most layer called the tunica intima. The tunica intima also known as the endothelial layer consists of simple squamous epithelium. The capillaries only have this layer. The thinness of the layer allows for rapid Gaseous exchange. In the other blood vessels it allows for exchange of materials between the blood and the tissue fluid of neighbouring