Page 98 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

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How long are

your blood

vessels? There are three main

types of blood vessel:
arteries, veins, and
It is estimated that capillaries. They cover
such a great distance
there may be as many because they need
to reach every cell in
as 100,000 miles your body, delivering
oxygen and nutrients
(160,000 km) of blood and carrying away
the cells’ waste.
vessels in an adult’s
body, and 60,000 miles Blood leaves the
heart and travels in
arteries (shown in
(97,000 km) in a child’s. red) to the tissues
and returns in
veins (blue).

COLD FINGERS
In the tissues, arteries
(such as the two seen
in each finger here)
branch out into many
smaller blood vessels,
called capillaries.

Although arteries (shown in
red in this false-color scan)
reach to the ends of the fingers,
sometimes hands can feel cold.
This is because the body may
restrict the blood flow to the
hands to keep the rest of
the body warm.

US_096_097_309600_ICBT_Blood_vessels.indd 96 19/12/17 12:56 pm