ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the body controls blood pressure, it is important to discuss venous return. If venous return is poor or inadequate, it has a direct effect on the amount of blood the ventricles are able to pump from the heart each minute. However, by the time blood reaches the veins from the capillaries, pressure is low and it requires mechanical assistance to continue its journey from the peripheries to the heart. The chapter shows that the pumping action of the heart generates flow and when flow is opposed by resistance it results in pressure. The Frank–Starling mechanism that assists venous return is the respiratory muscle pump. Starling's mechanisms ensure that venous return is always equal to cardiac output. Both venous return and cardiac output are regulated by what is known as Starling's law. Short-term control of blood pressure is principally regulated by the nervous system through adjustment and correction of cardiac output and peripheral resistance.
