2.4 blood pressure and heart disease

• Biologie / Verzorging
• Voortgezet speciaal onderwijs
• Leerroute 2

2.4 blood pressure and heart disease

In this section you will answer:

What is blood pressure?

What are common diseases of the circulatory system and what causes them?

theory

• The heartbeat forces your blood out of the heart into arteries, under pressure. 
• Your blood pressure is the pressure put on the walls of your arteries by the blood.

• The blood pressure is highest in the arteries and lowest in the veins
• When you place your fingers gently on the side of your neck or on the artery on the inside of your wrist

Hypertension

Blood pressure does not stay the same all the time: it changes to meet your body’s needs.

If blood pressure remains high this is called hypertension.

This is a condition that can lead to serious problems such as a heart attack, heart failure or stroke

What is a heart attack?

1. A condition where blood flow to the brain is blocked
2. A condition where blood flow to the heart is blocked
3. A condition where blood vessels become narrow
4. A condition where blood pressure increases suddenly

What is blood pressure?

1. The number of heartbeats per minute
2. The amount of blood in the body
3. The speed at which blood flows through the veins
4. The force of blood against the walls of the arteries

semilunar valves

right ventricle

septum

left ventricle

heart valves

left atrium

Veins

Capillaries

Arteries

Has very thin walls

Has very thick muscular walls

Has walls with valves on the inside

Can do diffusion

Always flows back to the heart

Always flows away from the heart