6. Pulse Pump of your heart felt in a blood vessel Feeling expansion of artery as left ventricle pushes blood towards your organs Arteries only Commonly felt in… Carotid artery in neck Radial artery in the wrist “Normal” is around 60 bpm.
7. Blood Pressure Blood moves down a pressure gradient from high to low Very high when it leaves the heart (enough to squirt 30 feet!) Very low by the time it returns BP measured as Systolic over Diastolic Again arteries only “Normal” is around 120/80 or lower (to a degree) Function of… Blood volume Heart rate Size of blood vessel openings (lumen) Viscosity (thickness) of blood Hypertension vs. Hypotension
8. Arteriosclerosis Caused by too much low density lipoproteins in blood(LDL; aka “bad” cholesterol) Cholesterol plaque builds up on artery walls – makes opening smaller. Same amount of blood + less room to move = higher blood pressure (hypertension)
