Blood vessels are part of the circulatory system, an essential part of the human body. The circulatory system can be compared to a figure eight that runs throughout the entire body. Additionally, the heart and circulatory system make up the cardiovascular system. The blood vessels carry blood throughout the entire body and back to the heart.
The human body actually contains so many blood vessels that, when laid end to end would extend 60,000 miles, or twice around the globe. Ultimately, blood vessels provide the necessary circulation to keep the organs of the body functioning properly.
More about the astonishing capabilities of the human body:
- There are 2.5 trillion red blood cells in the human body. To maintain that count, 2.5 million new red blood cells must be made every second by the body's bone marrow.
- A sneeze can create a wind gust up to 100 miles per hour.
- The human eyes can distinguish up to 10 million color surfaces and take in more data than any telescope in existence.
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Discussion Comments
I was lucky enough to see The Bodies Exhibition in San Francisco and in NYC. The dissected circulatory system when placed on a dark wall and plasticized with red coloring looks like one big fur oval. It is almost impossible to see where those 60,000 miles of vessels begin and end.
It should be noted that the blood vessels have a tree-like configuration: the entrance/exit of the blood vessels to the heart area large diameter 1 to 1.5 cm, while branches are much smaller, 0.5 cm; breaking sub-branches, 0.2 cm; sub-sub branches, and finally, capillaries very fine and threadlike, 0.1 cm diameter.
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