Circulatory system 1

Circulatory system
The circulatory system is the body system that brings blood to the body. The heart and all blood vessels make up
the circulatory system.
Blood vessels that take blood away from the heart are arteries. Arteries get smaller as they go away from the heart.
When arteries get very small, they are called arterioles.
Blood vessels that take blood toward the heart are veins. The smallest veins are called venules. Veins get bigger as
they go toward the heart.
Capillaries go between arteries and veins.
So blood moves: heart->artery->arteriole->capillary->venule->vein->heart. This is called circulation. There are
two different circulations in the circulatory system. The systemic circulation is how blood goes to most of the body.
The pulmonary circulation is how blood goes through the lungs. (Pulmonary means about the lungs.)

Systemic circulation
Blood that comes from the left side of the heart is full of oxygen and nutrients. Nutrients are substances that your
body needs to live, like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. This blood brings the oxygen and
nutrients to your body.
This blood in systemic arteries that is full of oxygen and nutrients is systemic arterial blood. It is sometimes just
called arterial blood.
The biggest systemic artery in the body is the aorta. This is the large blood vessel that comes out of the heart.
Smaller arteries branch off from the aorta. These arteries have smaller arteries that branch off from them. The
smallest arteries turn into arterioles.
The smallest blood vessels are capillaries. Systemic arterioles turn into capillaries. The blood from arterioles goes
into the capillaries. There oxygen and nutrients go out of the blood into the tissue around the capillaries. The blood
also picks up carbon dioxide and waste from the tissue. The network of capillaries that brings blood to an area is
called a capillary bed.
On the other end of the capillary, it turns into a venule. Venules are the smallest veins. Veins take blood back to the
heart. As veins go back to the heart, they get bigger. The biggest systemic veins in the body are the vena cava. There
are two vena cava. The inferior vena cava takes blood from the lower part of the body to the right side of the heart.
(In medicine, inferior means below.) The superior vena cava takes blood from the upper part of the body to the
heart. (In medicine, superior means above.)
Circulatory system 2

Pulmonary circulation
This same movement of blood happens in the pulmonary
circulation.
The blood that the vena cavae takes to the heart is full of
carbon dioxide. It has much less oxygen than (systemic)
arterial blood. The right side of the heart pushes the
venous blood into the pulmonary artery. The pulmonary
artery takes blood to the lungs. In the lungs, the blood
goes through the pulmonary capillary bed. (The capillaries
that are in the lungs.) Here it gets more oxygen. It also
drops off carbon dioxide. (This is the opposite of what
happens in capillary beds in the rest of the body. In the
systemic circulation blood drops off oxygen and picks up
carbon dioxide.)

After the pulmonary capillary bed, the blood goes to the

pulmonary veins. This pulmonary venous blood now is
full of oxygen. The pulmonary veins take blood to the left
side of the heart. Then the blood goes to the systemic
circulation again.

Other websites
The heart and large vessels
• American Medical Association Encyclopedia - The
Circulatory System [1]
• Ohio Heart and Vascular Center - pictures [2]

References
[1] http:/ / www. medem. com/ MedLB/ article_detaillb. cfm?article_ID=ZZZ8D8356JC& sub_cat=72
[2] http:/ / www. ohioheartandvascular. com/ misc/ cardiovascular-anatomy. php
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Article Sources and Contributors

Circulatory system  Source: http://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=2274859  Contributors: Ashershow1, Ashibaka, Blockinblox, Chenzw, Choosnink, Creol, EchoBravo, FrancoGG,
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