Blood vessels are one of the components of the circulatory system in the human body, and they are of the utmost importance to deliver blood to and from the heart. In this article, we will learn about the most important information about it.

What are blood vessels?

Blood vessels, in short, are a complex network of channels that carry blood to all parts of the body, and it is a closed loop that begins and ends in the heart. You can imagine that its combined length reaches 60,000 miles, or approximately 100,000 km, which is many times the diameter of the globe.

Types of blood vessels

There are three main types: veins, arteries, and capillaries. Here are the most important details:

1. Arteries

An artery is the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood away from the heart. The aorta is the largest artery in the human body, and it comes out of the heart and then branches into many branches that get smaller in size the farther they are from the heart to cover all the organs and tissues of the body.

2. Veins

A vein is that blood vessel that carries deoxygenated blood from the body’s organs and tissues back to the heart. Unlike arteries, veins get larger the closer they get to the heart. An example of major veins is the inferior vena cava, which carries blood from the extremities and abdominal region back to the heart.

3. Capillaries in the body

It is the smallest type, as it is very delicate and thin, and it is the one that connects arteries and veins together, and its thin walls allow oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, waste and other elements to move to and from millions of body cells.

Vascular functions

The blood vessel carries blood to and from the tissues and organs in the body. Blood contains oxygen, hormones, nutrients, and other essential elements for the cells of the body. It also contains carbon dioxide and other body waste. Each blood vessel has its own function as follows:

arterial function

Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the tissues, and have sufficient strength and pressure required to pump blood. As we mentioned to you in a previous paragraph, the main arteries branch into smaller arteries so that they can deliver the needs of the cells. Arteries contain less blood than veins.

veins function

Unlike arteries, veins do not carry blood at the same pressure, and they also contain the largest amount of deoxygenated blood for transport to the heart.

capillary function

Necessary nutrients and oxygen pass through their thin walls to the organs and tissues, and waste products pass from the tissues to the veins.

The most common vascular disease

There are many diseases that may affect the blood vessels, including:

How do you maintain the health of blood vessels?

There are many known tips to maintain the health of blood vessels, the most prominent of which are the following:

• Eat healthy meals free of harmful fats.
• Reducing the amount of salt in food.
• Eat enough fruits and vegetables.
• Eat fiber.
• Do regular exercise.
• Quit Smoking.
• Getting rid of obesity and overweight.