Question

Do arteries exchange nutrients?

Answer 1

Arteries start from the aorta, the largest blood vessel, and leaves the heart while carrying nutrients and oxygen from the heart and transporting it to various parts of the body. The blood carried by then is the oxygenated blood.

Complete answer:
The anterior vein is also called the superior vein which carries deoxygenated blood from the upper half of the body to the right atrium of the heart. The pulmonary artery is the only artery in the human body that carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs where it is filtered. While the pulmonary veins are the only vein in the human body that carries oxygenated blood back to the heart from the lungs and is then transported to the whole body by the aorta. These arteries then connect to the capillary smallest blood vessels called capillaries which help in the exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and waste that occurs between the blood and body cells.

Additional information:
The three important types of blood vessels are the arteries, the veins, and the capillaries.
- Arteries carry blood away from the heart, ending into arterioles that supply substances to the body parts, thus, forming the capillary network.
- Now, it carries out the exchange of chemicals between the tissues and blood.
- Further, capillaries combine into venules that combine to form larger veins. Veins are important for returning the blood to the heart. Anastomoses are the junctions between blood and the heart.
- Arteries and veins have three layers - tunica intima, tunica media, tunica adventitia. Capillaries, on the other hand, are composed of a single layer of endothelial cells.

Note:
The wall of an artery consists of three layers, namely tunica intima, tunica media, and tunica externa.
- The tunica intima is the innermost layer. It is also known as tunica interna.
- Tunica media is the middle layer. It is primarily a smooth muscle and it is the thickest layer. Tunica externa is the outermost layer.