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The Cardiovascular System : The Circulatory System

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Introduction
The circulatory system is made up of the heart and blood vessels and one of the major functions is to exchange gases between the blood and cells of the body and pump blood throughout the tissues of the body. Blood vessels are filled with blood being pumped from the heart and then is brought to the tissues throughout the body. The three kinds of blood vessels the make up the cardiovascular system are arteries, capillaries, and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart. Arteries have a strong, thick outer layer, the structure of arteries allows the blood vessels be able to pump blood all throughout the body (Pendarvis, Crawley, 2016). Arteries lead into arterioles which are little arteries that lead into capillaries. In response to chemical and physical changes in the body arterioles have the capability of vasodilation and vasoconstriction. Vasodilation is the widening of the blood vessels that increases blood flow to the skin and increases heat loss. Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels that decrease the blood flow, keeping blood at the core of the body minimizing heat loss. Capillaries are the smallest type of blood vessels and are responsible for gas exchange, bring nutrients to tissues in the body and oxygen to surrounding cells and picks up metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide (Pendarvis, Crawley, 2016). The reason capillaries are so small is because the blood cells flowing through need an equal ratio of surface area to volume in

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