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| [[Image:Artery med.jpg|right|380x219px|Artery med.jpg]] | | See [[Artery|Artery]] |
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| An artery is a blood vessel which carries [[Blood|blood]] away from the [[Heart|heart]]. It is the largest of all types of blood vessel, with strong vascular walls, the strength of which is required to move blood to body tissues which require [[Oxygen|oxygen]].
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| [[Arterioles|Aterioles are]] small branches of arteries, and control the blood which is sent to [[Capillary|capillaries]]. These are an important part of the arterial system<ref>Guyton, A. and Hall, J. (2011) Textbook of Medical Physiology, 12th edition. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier</ref>.
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| === Structure ===
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| The outer layer of an artery is called the tunica adventitia, which comes into contact with surrounding [[Organ|organs]] in order to protect the artery from wear. The inner layer is called a tunica intima has a smooth [[Epithelium|epithelium]] so that friction is reduced which is caused by blood flowing through the artery. The tunica media is the thickest layer and contains [[Smooth muscle|smooth muscle]] for [[Muscle contraction|contraction]], to allow blood to flow through the artery<ref>Rowland, M. (1992) Biology. Surrey: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.</ref>.
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| In the heart, there are two main arteries; the pulmonary artery and the aorta. The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the [[Lungs|lungs]] to become oxygenated (using [[Haemoglobin|haemoglobin]]) to bind [[Oxygen|oxygen]].
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| The aorta is the largest artery in the body and rises from the left ventricle of the [[Heart|heart]], carrying oxygenated [[Blood|blood]] which can then be used in [[Respiration|respiration]].
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| === References ===
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| <references />
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Latest revision as of 09:33, 6 December 2017