Video - Pressures in the cardiovascular system

In the human body, the heart is the pump, the arteries are pressure reservoirs and conduits, the arterioles are resistance vessels that control distribution, the capillaries are exchange sites, and the veins are conduits and blood reservoirs. Due to the varying degrees of compliance and resistance, blood pressures are not equal throughout the cardiovascular system. The mean arterial pressure falls as blood moves away from the heart to the periphery. This is because as blood flows downstream through many blood vessels, each of those vessels offers a bit of resistance, which adds up and reduces the blood pressure.