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Experiments have shown that three other vascular responses to immersion of the finger in cold water are possible: a continuous state of vasoconstriction; slow, steady, and continuous rewarming; and a proportional control form in which the blood vessel diameter remains constant after an initial phase of vasoconstriction.
The heart is the driver of the circulatory system, pumping blood through rhythmic contraction and relaxation. The rate of blood flow out of the heart (often expressed in L/min) is known as the cardiac output (CO). Blood being pumped out of the heart first enters the aorta, the largest artery of the body.
Instead, general contractions called mass action contractions occur one to three times per day in the large intestine, propelling the chyme (now feces) toward the rectum. Mass movements often tend to be triggered by meals, as the presence of chyme in the stomach and duodenum prompts them (gastrocolic reflex).
The endothelium provides a smooth surface for the flow of blood and regulates the movement of water and dissolved materials in the interstitial plasma between the blood and the tissues. The microcirculation contrasts with macrocirculation , which is the circulation of blood to and from the organs.
The programmed delay at the AV node also provides time for blood volume to flow through the atria and fill the ventricular chambers—just before the return of the systole (contractions), ejecting the new blood volume and completing the cardiac cycle. [8] (See Wiggers diagram: "Ventricular volume" tracing (red), at "Systole" panel.)
Blood is 92% water by weight and the rest of blood is composed of protein, nutrients, electrolytes, wastes, and dissolved gases. Depending on the health of an individual, the blood viscosity can vary (i.e., anemia causing relatively lower concentrations of protein, high blood pressure an increase in dissolved salts or lipids, etc.). [30]
Fluid balance is an aspect of the homeostasis of organisms in which the amount of water in the organism needs to be controlled, via osmoregulation and behavior, such that the concentrations of electrolytes (salts in solution) in the various body fluids are kept within healthy ranges.
During fever, the hypothalamic set point for temperature is raised. The increased set point causes the body temperature to rise , but also makes the patient feel cold until the new set point is reached. Severe chills with violent shivering are called rigors. Rigors occur because the patient's body is shivering in a physiological attempt to ...