Artherosclerosis: plaque builds up in the arteries occluding lumen. How does this affect blood pressure?

Question

Is this an example of hypertension or hypotension?

Answer 1

hypertension.

Because the arteries are more narrow, the blood exerts more force on the walls of the vessels in order to move through, thus the blood pressure is higher.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I suppose the best way to descripe whats happening is to provide an analogy of comparing it to like a tap with a hose. The hose is like the arteries which supply blood to our organs, Artherosclerosis is like a blockage similar to twisting the hose and occluding it. Now the organs require a constant stream of blood to function properly so if the stream of blood changes (due to the increasing artherosclerosis) then the body will respond by increasing the pressure of the flow so in the body the heart pumps faster and the pressure in the arteries is increased while in the case of the hose you open the tap further. Of course this happens over time and studies have shown that by taking cholesterol reducing medication blood pressure is reduced as the artherosclerosis is reduced.

Answer 4

artherosclerosis plaque builds arteries occluding lumen affect blood pressure

Answer 5

The arteries and veins work in unison to create your blood pressure and when you dam up one end of it the blood needs a greater force to push it through and because of this in the artery has a greater pressure and your tissues can not release fluid and poisons as easily which constricts the veins and arteries even more.

Answer 6

think about it, when a river is wide it runs slowly, when it is forced into a narrow canyon it speeds up, same thing in a blood vessel, if plaque builds up the heart has to work harder and push the blood thru harder so the pressure goes up, talking about hypertension. hyper meaning high, hypo meaning low