Three Kinds of Blood Vessels

Video Transcript

"The subject matter today is about three kinds of blood vessels. The first one's about arteries. They're thick walled, and they carry the blood away from the heart because it's already oxygenated. We sometimes refer to that as red blood because of the oxyhemoglobin. The hemoglobin attaches itself, the oxygen attaches itself to it and it's red and it's oxygenated. The other blood vessel would be veins. It's sometimes referred to as blue blood. Actually it's a dark purplish color because it's deoxygenated, and it contains valves inside that keeps it from backflowing. It also is on its way back to the heart to be oxygenated. We also have some large veins that are called the superior and the inferior vena cava that carry the blood from the head, the upper shoulders, and the arms, and the upper torso back to the heart. And also, we have the inferior vena cava which carries the blood, the oxygenated blood from the lower extremities back to the heart. So, those are part of the veins and are the venous system, and the capillaries is what feeds the tissues. So, you have three different kinds of blood vessels; the arteries, the veins, and the capillaries."