How does hydrostatic pressure vary throughout the cardiovascular system? What is

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Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by blood on the walls of a blood vessel that helps to push blood through the body. Blood pressure is regulated in the body by changes to the diameters of blood vessels in response to changes in the cardiac output, volume of the blood, viscosity of the blood, blood vessel length and diameter and stroke volume. Factors such as stress, nutrition, drugs, exercise, or disease can invoke changes in the diameters of the blood vessels, altering blood pressure. Greater contractile force and heart rate lead to an increase in blood pressure. Blood vessels can also affect blood pressure. Vasoconstriction decreases the diameter of an artery by contracting the smooth muscle in the arterial wall. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system causes vasoconstriction, which leads to increases in blood pressure and decreases in blood flow in the constricted region. Vasodilation is the expansion of an artery as the smooth muscle in the arterial wall relaxes after the fight-or-flight response wears off or under the effect of certain hormones or chemicals in the blood. The volume of blood in the body also affects blood pressure. A higher volume of blood in the body raises blood pressure by increasing the amount of blood pumped by each heartbeat. Thicker, more viscous blood from clotting disorders can also raise blood pressure.

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