Arteries and Veins these terms are both very commonly used in the medical field. While most people think these terms are the same.
Knowledge of any of these two subjects is critical before understanding any other subject in medical science, as both of them are vital parts of the human body. Even though both arteries and veins appear to be the same, they are entirely different.
Key Takeaways
- Arteries and veins are both types of blood vessels in the circulatory system.
- Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the body.
- Veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to the heart from the rest of the body.
Arteries vs Veins
The difference between arteries and veins is that arteries are present in the body, and these are the vessels that help carry blood from the heart of the body to other organs. Veins are the blood vessels that carry blood from different body parts to the heart.
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On the one hand, arteries carry blood away from the heart, whereas, on the other hand, veins carry blood to the heart.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Arteries | Veins |
|---|---|---|
| Circulation | Arteries circulate blood from the heart to the other body parts. | Veins circulate blood from various tissues of the body to the heart. |
| Thickness | Walls of arteries are thick as compared to veins. | Walls of veins are inelastic in nature and thin in thickness. |
| Valves | Valves are not present in arteries. | Valves are present in veins. |
| Blood circulated | The blood carried by arteries away from the heart has oxygen in it. | The blood which is carried by the veins to the heart has no oxygen content in it. |
| Present | Arteries are present inside the body. | Veins are present near the skin of the human body. |
| Colour | The colour of the arteries is red. | The veins are blue. |
| Pulse | People can detect the pulse by touching the arteries of the body. | Veins don’t help in detecting the pulse of the body |
| Death | Once the person gets dies, arteries get empty | After the death of the person, veins get filled with blood. |
What are Arteries?
Arteries are the blood vessels that resound lifeblood from the human heart to other human body organs. The blood which is carried by the arteries has oxygen in it.
Hence the muscular walls of the arteries are thick as it carries blood from the heart when the heart pumps it with pressure.
There are two paths which carry blood with the help of arteries:
Systematic: In this path, the circulated blood has oxygen content, and blood moves from the heart to other tissues via this path.
Pulmonary: In this path, the blood with less oxygen content is circulated from the heart to the lungs, where it can gain oxygen and release carbon dioxide.
There are two types of arteries in the human body, i.e. elastic and muscular.
Elastic arteries: These are the type of arteries which are present very near the heart. It is present in the region where blood pressure is high.
These arteries can expand and contract when the heart pumps blood with high pressure.
Muscular arteries: These arteries are present in that region of the body where blood pressure is low. These arteries are inelastic.
Different types of arteries are present in different sizes. The artery which is more significant than others is called the aorta.
What are Veins?
Veins are the blood vessels that transport blood from different body organs to the heart.
The blood circulated by veins has less oxygen content, and hence, veins are less elastic as it is circulating blood to the veins.
Veins frequently contract to circulate blood to the heart. Veins are present close to the skin of the body.
Various vein problems can occur in the human body, but most of the problems are due to blood clots in the veins.
Veins are of 4 types:
Pulmonary veins: These veins carry blood which is rich in oxygen, from the lungs to the left part of the heart.
Systemic veins: These veins carry blood which has less oxygen content, from different body organs to the heart.
Superficial veins: These are the veins that are present close to the skin’s surface.
Deep veins: These are the veins in the body’s deep muscles.
Veins are present in different sizes in the body. The size of veins varies from 1 millimeter to 1.5 centimeters. The vein which is smallest in size is called the venule.
Main Differences Between Arteries and Veins
Although both are fields of biology and related to the body of living beings, there still exists a lot of differences between arteries and veins when it comes to functioning, thickness, and colour of vessels.
- Arteries help circulate blood from the heart to body organs, whereas veins circulate blood from the tissues to the heart.
- The colour of arteries is red, whereas veins are blue
- Arteries carry blood that is rich in oxygen, whereas veins carry blood that has less oxygen content.
- Arteries are thick in size, whereas veins are thin in size as compared to arteries.
- Arteries are deep inside the body, whereas veins are close to the body’s skin.
- https://www.surgjournal.com/article/0039-6060(73)90307-3/fulltext
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.RES.66.4.1088
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg888
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
Both arteries and veins carry blood but the difference is clear now
the main difference is simple, arteries carry blood from the heart to organs and veins carry blood to the heart from body parts
Awesome stuff With thanks.
Happy to explain arteries and veins to you. You can also get a human skeleton from the market to explain it to the kids.
I am a heart surgeon and I can confidently say the difference between arteries and veins is explained in full detail here.