Thank you for joining me again this evening for our nightly podcasts. I perform these podcasts in the hopes that you will be able to education yourself on the topics discussed so you can make better informed medical decisions regarding your health in the future. I am doctor Harrison Campbell of Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. Previously we discussed the chambers of the heart and blood flow through the heart. Tonight, we will be discussing the circulatory system which we briefly ended on last night.
As we mention last night the circulatory system is a closed system where the heart pumps the blood through the body and has it return to the heart via the superior and inferior vena cava. Now as sugar land chiropractors can tell you, there is much more to the circulatory system than blood being pumped around in a circle. To start we will break down the difference between arteries and veins. Arteries are muscle lined vessels which carry blood away from the heart. Veins are vessels which lack muscles and rely on the valves to bring blood back to the heart.
Now arteries have these muscle layers surrounding them in order to regulate pressure and blood flow. As sugar land chiropractors can tell you there is more volume in all of our blood vessels combined than is in our body. This means we need to carefully control where the blood volume is in order to prevent us from passing out due to a decrease blood flow to the brain. Typically, when we are going through a normal daily routine most of the blood flow to our gut is diverted away. This is because when we are not eating or digesting food there is no need for increase blood flow to this area. This is where the muscle layers come into effect. The arteries in the gut and leading to the gut vasoconstrict. This means they narrow and prevent blood from from going to the gut. Additionally, the arteries going to the muscles in the extremities vasodilate when we are moving to provide adequate blood flow to these muscles for nutritional supply and waste removal.
Now when we are resting or digesting the opposite occurs. As we need an increase blood supply to the gut to absorb nutrients, the arteries in the gut vasodilate to allow this to happen. Simultaneously as we are not being active while resting and digesting the arteries to the extremity muscles vasoconstrict to divert the blood from these muscles to the gut.
Aside from diverting blood flow the pressure we can generate from vasodilation and vasoconstriction is an important function of the muscle layer in arteries. As sugar land chiropractors can tell you while the heart is good at its job, it needs help to make sure blood makes it to the parts of the body which need it. Therefore, maintaining proper pressure levels by constricting certain areas or dilating others helps the blood flow through the body.
Veins on the other hand do not vasodilate or vasoconstrict. What moves the blood through a vein are the surrounding muscles providing a motive force to push the blood through the vein. This is why people on long flights are told to move around. Sitting in position allows blood to pool in the legs. Without us moving our leg or the muscles of the legs contracting there is not help other than the heart to push blood back up the legs. Now there are valves in the vein to help prevent backflow, but we need to contract muscles to force blood back up to the heart. This is one of the reasons why sugar land chiropractors stress moving every so often and not remain stationary.
Now without going into too much physics, the vasoconstriction portion of the arteries can create problems for us. By narrowing the diameter of the vessel more force is required to get the blood through the vessel. This is why sugar land chiropractors talk of stress elevating blood pressure. Stress causes our body to release epinephrine, more commonly called adrenaline. Adrenaline causes our hearts to beat harder and faster. Additionally, adrenalin causes certain arteries to vasoconstrict and others to vasodilate. For short periods of time this is a great benefit to us and help our bodies cope with the stress. For extended periods of time this leads to cardiovascular problems. Long term this can lead to hardening of our arteries due to the increase pressure.
It can lead to tearing of the inner arterial wall. Our hearts wear out faster and the muscle enlarges due to the constant strain. All in all, not a pretty picture.
Another condition which sugar land chiropractors can tell you about is plaques building up in the arteries. Now this can occur from a number of reasons, but diet is the biggest one. No having enough of the quote unquote good cholesterol in our bodies allows these plaques to build. These HDLs or high density lipoproteins or HDLs act as scrubber for our arteries. The low density lipoproteins or LDLs are the quote unquote bad cholesterol which sticks to the interior of the artery creating blockages. No there are people genetically predisposed to having high cholesterol regardless of their diet, but typically most people can help their cardiovascular system by having a good diet supplemented with exercise. Medications for cholesterol are as sugar land chiropractors can tell you suppose to be temporary measures while a lifestyle change is made. To this end talk with your cardiologist if your on a medication like this to create a plan for a lifestyle change so you can eventually be weened of this medication.
Thank you for joining me again this evening for another great podcast. I hope you enjoyed the discussion on the circulatory system and its intricacies. As always should you or someone you know require a sugar land chiropractors services or simply have more questions on what was discussed please call Restoration Health today. We would love to schedule you an appointment and get you on the path to better health today. Thank you once again for joining us. Have a good night.