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About every two minutes, the average adult's quarts of
blood through 100,000 miles of blood.
Working together, your heart, lungs, and blood vessels
form a life pump known as the circulatory system. Quite
simply, this transportation system sends blood to every part
of your body. When blood is pumped through your heart into
your lungs, the red blood cells load up on oxygen and are
then pumped back to the body full of life-giving oxygen.
Then the system turns around and acts as a garbage truck,
carrying toxins from throughout the body for disposal.
There are three distinct parts of the circulation system:
There are three distinct parts of the circulation system:
The pulmonary system moves the blood from the heart into
the lungs, where red blood cells are infused with oxygen in
exchange for carbon dioxide, and then back to the heart
The coronary system provides blood specifically to the
heart.
The systemic system moves blood throughout the body using
arteries, veins, and capillaries.
The systemic system is the system most people think of
when referring to the circulatory system.
Oxygen-rich blood leaves the heart in arteries and
returns to the heart in veins. Capillaries connect these
arteries and veins. Arteries send oxygenated blood to the
capillaries. In turn, these small blood vessels deliver the
red blood cells to every nook and cranny of your body. The
capillaries then collect the oxygen-depleted blood and waste
products and funnel it into the veins for the return trip to
the heart and lungs for another load of oxygen.
During this trip from and back to the heart, your blood
flows through your kidneys (renal circulation) where much of
the waste is filtered from your blood and your small
intestine and liver (portal circulation) where sugars are
filtered from the blood and stored for later use.
Peripheral arterial disease
- It's serious business
Circulatory problems of the arteries and veins outside
the heart-peripheral vascular disease-affect more than five
million Americans. Most are over 50 years of age and many
have additional health problems including heart disease,
high blood pressure, or diabetes.
"Peripheral arterial disease can be occlusive or
aneurysmal," says Jamal Hoballah, M.D., UI Hospitals and
Clinics vascular surgeon. "In occlusive disease, changes in
the arteries prevent the normal flow of blood and are often
caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), or
the accumulation of plaque (deposits of fat, cholesterol,
and calcium) in the interior walls of the arteries.
"In aneurysmal disease, there is loss of the elasticity
and integrity of the arterial wall that weakens the arterial
wall, thus predisposing it to rupture," he says.
"Peripheral arterial disease is serious business," says
Hoballah, "and left untreated, can cause death, stroke,
severe high blood pressure, loss of kidney function as well
as the loss of a leg or foot from gangrene."
Proper diagnosis and treatment can offer a positive
outlook for patients. Once your physician has diagnosed
peripheral artery disease, a treatment plan can be developed
to fit your individual situation. Some patients with mild
cases can be treated with exercise, medication, and risk
reduction. Patients with more severe cases may look at
options including balloon angioplasty, stenting, or surgical
reconstruction or repair.
For more information about peripheral vascular disease
and treatments available at UI Hospitals and Clinics, call
UI Health
Access, 319-384-8442, ext. 1004, or 800-777-8442, ext.
1004.
More information:
Listed above is a Web site that offers additional
information on this topic. University of Iowa Health Care
does not sponsor or endorse these sites, or guarantee the
accuracy of the information contained on these sites. These
links are here for general information only, and should not
be used for personal diagnosis or treatment. If you have any
questions, please contact UI
Health Access.
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