How are Peripheral Resistance and Blood flow related?

Why is there more resistance in some blood vessels than others?

How does the body use the concepts of vasodilation and vasoconstriction to regulate Blood flow?

I cover that (and more) in this video.

What’s In The Video

This video was in response to a question asked by one of the students in my Anatomy & Physiology Academy. However, I thought it would be useful for you to, so I decided to include it here on this website.

It’s a simple concept and I use the idea of water flowing through a hose as an analogy to help you understand. It’s quite simple. Here are the main points:

• If peripheral resistance increases, blood flow decreases
• The diameter of the blood vessel is inversely proportional to the amount of resistance
• If a blood vessel gets clogged, that increases resistance
• Vasoconstriction increases peripheral resistance
• Vasodilation decreases peripheral resistance
• The body uses these processes to make sure that blood goes to the right place at the right time

So I hope that helps you understand the concepts of peripheral resistance and blood flow a little better. There’s much more