Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: thedoc on 04/12/2016 02:23:02

Title: How much pressure can a vein or artery hold?
Post by: thedoc on 04/12/2016 02:23:02

Luke Pullar asked the Naked Scientists:
   
How strong are veins and arteries? How much fluid pressure would need to be added before you'd get blowouts and rips etc in the (major parts of) circulatory system?
What do you think?

Title: Re: How much pressure can a vein or artery hold?
Post by: Colin2B on 01/01/2017 14:32:05

I did read an experiment using post-mortem arteries from the brain. It showed they ruptured around 2atm, but the range was between 1and 4, decreasing with age.
Considering that 1atm is 760mmHg, this is considerably more than the highest systolic pressure we experience.
So it is unlikely that a bleed is due to pressure alone but due to faults in the vessel e.g. aneurism or plaque damage.
You might think it a good idea to avoid anything that raises your BP but it is only constantly raised BP that is linked to cardiovascular disease. Temporary increases such as aerobic exercise or weight/resistance training have been shown to be beneficial to vascular health. Both the UK and US heart associations advise including weight/resistance exercises into a regular fitness programme. Just remember not to hold your breath, exhale on effort, inhale on the recovery; you don't need to do anything
excessive, I do 2 20min sessions a week, in addition to aerobic exercise, of light weights to maintain strength and endurance.