How is it possible for a human to alter their blood pressure?

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We humans have somewhat sealed loop of blood circulating around, so how are we able to alter the blood pressure without “opening” a valve somewhere or something like that to let blood out/in(imagine a pipe with a valve)? Where does the pressure come and go to?

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The pipe in your analogy doesn’t really work because a pipe is constant in size, whereas the vessels in your circulatory system can constrict or dilate, making the blood flow through a larger or smaller circuit depending on the circumstances (consequently altering resistance to flow and pressure). In addition, your heart is a pump with variable output, increasing or decreasing the output by changing how fast it is beating and the amount of force (and therefore volume) of each beat. So although the circulatory system is essentially a closed system it can vary significantly in volume, and the pump can vary significantly in output.

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