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Capillary |
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A capillary is
one of several types of blood vessel that transport blood around
the
body.
Other blood vessels include: arteries,
arterioles,
veins and
venules.
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The structure of a capillary is: |
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Capillaries are tiny (extremely narrow) blood
vessels, of approximately 5-20 micro-metres
(one micro-metre = 0.000001metre) diameter.
There are networks of capillaries in most of the organs and tissues of the body.
These capillaries are supplied with blood by arterioles and drained by venules.
Capillary walls are only one cell thick (see diagram), which permits exchanges
of material between the contents of the capillary and the surrounding tissue. |
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The functions of capillaries include: |
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Function is to supply tissues with components of, and carried
by, the blood, and also to remove waste from the surrounding
cells ... as opposed to simply moving the blood around the
body (in the case of other blood vessels);
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Exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, salts, etc., between
the blood and the surrounding body tissues.
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For more information about blood vessels and the components (or "constituents")
of blood, see the pages about: The Structure
and Functions of Blood Vessels, and the Structure
and Functions of Blood.
These pages may interest students of massage, reflexology, beauty therapies,
or other health or clinical courses.
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