How Can A High Blood Viscosity Impact Human Health?

Increased whole blood viscosity is associated with

increased risk of morbidity and mortality of several life-threatening diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease

.

What is the significance of the viscosity of blood to health?

Blood viscosity is

an important determinant of local flow characteristics

, which exhibits shear thinning behavior: it decreases exponentially with increasing shear rates. Both hematocrit and plasma viscosity influence blood viscosity.

How does blood viscosity affect the cardiovascular system?

Blood viscosity is a determinant of vascular resistance, and it is expected to contribute to blood pressure

. Arterial hypertension (HTN), in addition to other cardiovascular risk factors, contribute to cardiac morbidity.

What affects blood viscosity the most?

The two most important determinants of blood viscosity are the

hematocrit and fibrinogen levels

. In patients with hematocrits in the range of 47–53%, lowering of the hematocrit by phlebotomy to below 40% can increase cerebral blood flow by as much as 50%. Blood pressure is also important.

What happens if blood viscosity increases?

Increased viscosity

increases the resistance to blood flow and thereby increases the work of the heart and impairs organ perfusion

. Some patients with anemia have low hematocrits, and therefore reduced blood viscosities. Another important factor that influences blood viscosity is temperature.

What happens if blood density is high?

A person with thick blood, or hypercoagulability,

may be prone to blood clots

. When blood is thicker or stickier than usual, this often results from an issue with the clotting process. Specifically, an imbalance of the proteins and cells responsible for blood clotting can lead to hypercoagulability.

What effect would you expect an increased blood viscosity to have on blood pressure?

According to this equation, a decrease in viscosity causes an increase in cardiac output and opposite this, an increase in viscosity causes a decrease in cardiac output. Therefore, the physiologic compensation of viscosity-related decreased blood flow rate will be an

increase in pressure or vasodilation

.

How does blood viscosity affect resistance?

Blood Viscosity

The viscosity of blood is

directly proportional to resistance

and inversely proportional to flow; therefore, any condition that causes viscosity to increase will also increase resistance and decrease flow.

Does high blood viscosity cause high blood pressure?

Although it is commonly accepted that

sustained hyperviscosity can decrease perfusion and increase blood pressure

, it should be noted that increased blood viscosity has two effects in the cardiovascular system: it may act to increase shear stress on the endothelium and increase NO release, promoting vasodilation as …

What cardiovascular diseases are related to blood viscosity disorders?

There is increasing evidence that levels of plasma and whole blood viscosity are associated with the risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD, i.e.

coronary heart disease and stroke

) and mortality in samples of the general population.

What is the relationship between blood viscosity and blood cell count?

To the Editor:

Hematocrit or hemoglobin influences blood viscosity

, but the effects of white blood cell (WBC) count and platelet count are less evaluated. Blood viscosity can be divided into whole blood viscosity (WBV) and plasma viscosity (PV), which exert different influences in different situations.

How do you describe blood viscosity?

Blood viscosity is

a measure of the resistance of blood to flow

. It can also be described as the thickness and stickiness of blood.

How do you lower blood viscosity?

Presently, the only method to reduce the blood viscosity is to

take medicine, such as aspirin

. However, besides of heavy side effect, using medicine to reduce the blood viscosity only makes the turbulence worse because the Reynolds number goes up with the viscosity reduction.

How can I lower my blood viscosity naturally?

1. Turmeric.
2. Ginger.
3. Cayenne peppers.
4. Vitamin E.
5. Garlic.
6. Cassia cinnamon.
7. Ginkgo biloba.
8. Grape seed extract.

What causes a person to have thin blood?

Thin blood is known as thrombocytopenia and is caused by

low numbers of platelets

. The normal level of platelets in the blood is between 150,000–400,000 per milliliter (mL) . If levels of platelets fall below 150,000/mL, it may indicate thin blood.

What effect would you expect an increased blood viscosity to have on blood pressure quizlet?

When there’s more viscous in the blood , the greater the resistance it encounters and the

higher blood pressure

. (Increased hematocrit increases blood viscosity and there for increases resistance to flow.)

What is the effect of increased viscosity quizlet?

-As viscosity increased,

the flow rate increased and the graph was linear

. -As viscosity increased, the flow rate decreased and the graph was curved.

How does hemorrhage affect blood pressure?

The reduction in blood volume during acute blood loss causes a fall in central venous pressure and cardiac filling. This leads to

reduced cardiac output and arterial pressure

.

What makes blood more viscous than water?

Viscosity in blood

Plasma is mostly water but also contains molecules such as electrolytes, proteins and other macromolecules.

Because of the different components of plasma and their interactions

the viscosity is higher than water.