Varicose Veins & Spider Veins
Medical Author:
Siamak T. Nabili, MD, MPH
Siamak T. Nabili, MD, MPHDr. Nabili received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), majoring in chemistry and biochemistry. He then completed his graduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His graduate training included a specialized fellowship in public health where his research focused on environmental health and health-care delivery and management. Medical Editor:
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MDMelissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
What are veins and what is their function?Veins are blood vessels that return blood from all the organs in the body toward the heart. When the different organs use oxygen from the blood to perform their functions, they release the used blood containing waste products (such as carbon dioxide) into the veins. Blood in the veins is then transported to the heart and returned to the lungs, where the waste carbon dioxide is released and more oxygen is loaded by the blood and taken back to the rest of the body by the arteries. Veins also act as a storage for unused blood. When the body is at rest, only a portion of the available blood in the body circulates. The rest of the blood remains inactive in the veins and enters the active circulation when the body becomes more active and needs the additional blood to carry oxygen to entire body. This storing capacity is due to the elasticity (flexibility to expand) of the walls of the veins. Veins have different sizes depending their location and their function. The largest veins are in the center of the body; these collect the blood from all the other smaller veins and channel it into the heart. The branches of these large veins get smaller and smaller as they move away from the center of the body. The veins closer to the skin surface are called superficial veins. The veins that are deeper and closer to the center of the body are called deep veins. There are also other veins that connect the superficial veins to the deep ones which are called the perforating veins. |
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