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Vasodilation plays a major role in immune system function. Wider blood vessels allow more blood containing immune cells and proteins to reach the infection site. Vasodilation occurs as part of the process of inflammation, which is caused by several factors including presence of a pathogen, injury to tissues or blood vessels, and immune ...
When the blood vessels suddenly relax, it results in vasodilation. In vasodilatory shock, the blood vessels are too relaxed leading to extreme vasodilation and blood pressure drops and blood flow becomes very low. Without enough blood pressure, blood and oxygen will not be pushed to reach the body's organs.
Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, in particular the large arteries and small arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasodilation , the widening of blood vessels.
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Vasodilation and vasoconstriction are also used antagonistically as methods of thermoregulation. [23] The size of blood vessels is different for each of them. It ranges from a diameter of about 30–25 millimeters for the aorta [24] to only about 5 micrometers (0,005 mm) for the capillaries. [25]
Vasodilation and vasoconstriction are complex phenomena; they are functions not merely of the fluid mechanics of pressure and tissue elasticity but also of active homeostatic regulation with hormones and cell signaling, in which the body produces endogenous vasodilators and vasoconstrictors to modify its vessels' compliance.
For example, nitric oxide, found in food, is a very potent vasodilator. It has been found that nerves in the spinal column can trigger both processes. Vasodilation is also triggered for thermoregulation to provide heat dissipation. Vasoconstriction and vasodilation shown next to a normal capillarity cross section for comparison.
The vascular nerves control vasodilation and vasoconstriction, which in turn lead to the control and regulation of temperature and homeostasis. Vasodilator innervation is restricted to the following sites : 1.) The vessels of the skeletal muscle are dilated by cholinergic sympathetic nerves 2.)