Elastic Arteries Your bodys largest artery, the aorta, and its main branches constitute the elastic

arteries. Their lumen, or internal space, is large, allowing blood to flow easily. They also have thick, muscular walls enmeshed with concentric sheets of elastin, a rubberlike protein. When the left ventricle pumps blood into these arteries, they expand or swell, absorbing the high pressure and propelling the blood toward the next group of arteries, the muscular, or distributing, arteries, which also have elastin in their walls. Thanks to this remarkable design, blood pressure is steady by the time it reaches the delicate capillaries. The distributing arteries range in diameter from about half an inch down to 0.01 inch [1 cm-0.3 mm]. By dilating or constricting as directed by special nerve fibers, these vessels help regulate blood flow, making the circulatory system extremely dynamic. In the event of trauma or alarm, for instance, pressure sensors in arterial linings signal the brain, which, in turn, signals the appropriate arteries to restrict blood flow to less important areas such as the skin and shunt it to the vital organs. Says New Scientist magazine: Your arteries can feel the blood flowing, and respond. Is it any wonder that arteries have been described as smart pipes? By the time blood leaves the smallest arteriesthe arteriolesits pressure is steady at about 35 millimeters of mercury. Steady, low pressure is vital here because the arterioles merge with the smallest blood vessels of all, the capillaries.