How would arterioles cause diastolic pressure to rise during exercise?
Possibly but not necessarily. Disease and age are also factors requiring consideration. When the heart pumps, it causes blood to flow through the arteries and into the arterioles. As the blood goes through the arterioles, the arterioles either contract or expand altering both the amount of blood flow and the resistance to blood flow. If the arterioles remain in a contracted form, they create high blood pressure. The heart must then pump harder because the arterioles are exerting a greater resistance to blood flow. Firstly, any condition that dilates or contracts the blood vessels or affects their elasticity, affects the blood pressure. Secondly, any disease of the heart that interferes with its pumping power, affects the blood pressure. In a healthy animal, the blood pressure normal for its species is maintained within a certain range with great constancy. Thus if blood pressure is abnormally low or high, it usually indicates that greater health problems are present. In humans, blood p
