What are Blood Vessels in the Human Body?

What Are blood vessels and How Do They Work in the Human Body

Blood vessels in the human body, or blood vessels, are the channels through which blood is distributed in the body tissues. While delivering oxygen to the body parts, blood vessels remove waste products from your body. Let us understand what blood vessels are in the human body, their different types, common disorders, and symptoms.

What are blood vessels?

Blood vessels, carry blood in your body. These vessels also send oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and remove waste from the body. The human body contains almost 60,000 blood vessels that form the circulatory system. The systemic vessels carry blood from the left ventricle to each tissue in every body part and then return the blood to the right atrium.

What are the Main Types of Blood Vessels?

According to their structure, blood vessels are classified into three different types. These are arteries, capillaries, and veins. Here are the functions of every kind of blood vessels:

• Arteries : Arteries are strong blood vessels that pass oxygen-rich blood from your heart to your body parts. It also consists of oxygen from the lungs. The wall of arteries includes three layers. The tunica intima, which is the innermost layer, is surrounded by connective tissue, basement membrane, and long elastic fibres.
  Furthermore, the middle layer, tunica media, is a smooth muscle that supports the vessel and changes the diameter of the vessel to regulate blood flow. Tunica adventitia is the outermost layer, which consists of elastic and collagenous fibres.
• Capillaries : Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels, which connect arteries and veins. One of the primary functions of capillaries is to exchange materials between tissue cells and blood. The skeletal muscle, kidney, and liver have large capillary networks, as they are active and require a large quantity of oxygen and nutrient supply.
• Veins : Veins carry blood from the body back to the heart, which then goes to your lungs. The walls of veins also have three layers. The amount of smooth muscle and connective tissue is less, although all the layers are present. This results in thinner walls of veins than those of arteries.

Common Conditions and Disorders that Affect Blood Vessels

Blood vessels play a pivotal role in balancing fluid, removing waste products, and other processes. The components or parts of the body supplied by a particular vascular network may be impacted by conditions that affect the vascular system because of all these roles.

Some of the common conditions and disorders are:

• Aneurysm: This is a bulge in a part of an artery that is weak or damaged. It can affect any part of your body. They have the potential to burst and produce life-threatening internal bleeding.
• Cerebrovascular Disease: This may result in a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or stroke. Often called a "mini-stroke," a TIA is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. Symptoms are identical to a stroke but typically resolve completely within minutes to an hour. A TIA is a major warning sign that a full stroke may occur.
• Hypertension: This is a condition where the force of blood against your artery walls is consistently too high. This can be caused by factors that increase resistance within the blood vessels, such as narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis) or dysfunction in the mechanisms that control vessel diameter.
• Thoracic Vascular Disease: Thoracic vascular disease is a bulge in the weak area of the wall of a blood vessel. It results in the thoracic or chest portion of the aorta abnormally expanding.

Symptoms of Blood Vessels When They Are Not Working

You need to seek medical advice if you experience any symptoms of vascular disease. Below are the symptoms that your blood vessels are affected by common conditions or disorders:

• Change of skin colour to a bluish tone
• Fatigue while performing physical activities
• Numbness in feet, legs, arms or hands
• Pain in your belly, chest, or legs
• Breath shortness
• Confusion in speaking and understanding facts
• Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
• Sudden loss of vision
• Inflammation and warmth around your vein
• Balance problems
• Fainting
• Fast heartbeat
• Oedema or swelling in the legs and arms

Lifestyle Hacks to Keep Blood Vessels Healthy

You can reduce the risk of vascular diseases or disorders that can affect your blood vessels by implementing preventive measures. Follow these lifestyle hacks to keep your blood vessels healthy:

• Exercise regularly or up to 150 minutes a week
• Consume healthier foods that are low in cholesterol, sodium, and saturated fats.
• Do not sit or stand in the same position for hours.
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco products.
• Reduce your stress level
• Control your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

Blood is transported throughout your body through these blood vessels. They are crucial for ensuring that your tissues and organs receive the nutrition and oxygen which are necessary to function. The best course of action while dealing with vascular disease is to be watchful. You may also make appointments with healthcare experts to prevent serious vascular disease.