What does the tunica media do?

When you think about the anatomy of your body, the heart is one of the most vital organs. It beats tirelessly to keep blood flowing throughout your system like a marathon runner, and while we often talk about its chambers, valves and blood pressure, very little attention is given to the walls that make up this exceptional pump. In particular, let’s talk today about a specific part of these walls – the tunica media.

Starting with an Anatomy Lesson

Before getting into discussing what exactly tunica media does for us, it’s important to understand what it really means in our cardiovascular system. Firstly, where will you locate this mysterious zone? Well, as you may already know, each sectional department has different layers and so does our precious organ- Heart.The tiny elastic fibers interwoven between smooth muscle cells bedded firmly around arteries comprise’ The Tunic Massage’. Aka tunic midd..wait no I meant TUNICA MEDIA! Deriving from Latin ‘coat’ or ‘cloak’, tunics sound chic but unfortunately have nothing whatsoever to do with style!

Muscles play two roles when it comes to tucking away blood; they first constrict veins resulting in narrowed vessels in times of stress (sounds familiar right?), secondly muscles guard against back flow by creating ‘valves’.

The muscular portion inside vessel tubes helps them expand and contract according to movement direction respectively. This happens incredibly quickly too-contraction only takes microseconds!Electrical impulses sent along nerves initiate every contraction which propels red blood cells on their journey towards delivering nutrients ,oxygen & myriad hormones required by cells.Talking about hairbreadth precison here ladies & gentlemen!

Having discussed how precisely muscles move around stuffs within tubular structures just shows how much load Tunica Media carry upon themselves without taking any credit(we all know someone like that!).

What is the Tunica Media, Really?

So what exactly does tunica media do? Well, it has many functions and each one holds as much importance as the next. Here are some we think you’ll find interesting:

Regulation of Blood Vessel Diameter

We know that there are three types of blood vessels in our body: arteries, veins and capillaries. These different types have different diameters, which is why your doctor will measure your “blood pressure” whenever she’s checking up on you.

What we rarely talk about is what controls this diameter – and here comes to help tunica media, by regulating muscle around the vessel wall!This can be described as’ vascular tone’. If muscles activated more often responsible for constricting tubes vasoconstriction occurs which means decreasing bulb radius & vice versa under influence of moisture or certain chemicals (just ask Walter White if confusion persists)_, The result being a process called vasodilation where vessels yield increased girth opening pathways for better circulation

Maintaining Proper Blood Pressure

Just like those people who always want to keep everything just right every time(devil’s advocate).Tunic-Media too maintains optimum blood pressure within all Blood Vessels! It does this by constantly expanding or contracting based on neural ,hormonal inputs resulting in checked outflow velocity i.e., if incoming surge needs to be dampened then musculoskeletal boundary expands consequently speeding-up flow rate(more volume,witnessed during strenuous activity),alternately,it minimises rate and allows proper dissipation with grace .Anything unwanted flowing through can linger because major changes occured!

Prevention of Atherosclerosis

In layman language plauques build up due to consumption fatty foods cause problem.These lipids like cholesterol,fats,triglycerides attach themrselves over endothelial layer(simple flat cells with nuclei)by diffuse and mix to form a fat rich paste layer on the inner surface of vessels causable for stopped/ sluggish flow,. Tunica Media is able to prevent these plaques from forming through tunneling nutrients around them just like bulldozers making way for fresh new builds! This means it helps in keeping your heart healthy and your blood flowing unobstructed. So, let’s appreciate our fellow tunicians!

Shock Absorption

Riding a bumpy pony or hitting an air pocket mid-flight can cause shock resulting In being thrown forwards & we sometimes hurt ourselves as a result. Same thing happens within our bloodstream incoming force sometimes hinders regular mechanism forcing one way out strangley via vessel’s wall(AKA –BLEEDING). But,tunica media takes care this by steadily absorbing shock waves affecting red-blood cells devoid of chance to hustle so they may reach their destination safely.

The Takeaway

Tunica Media is essentially the superhero responsible not only for ensuring that blood keeps circulating throughout our systems but also preventing disease, maintaining balance when things get chaotic,& transitioning vessels according to situation . It has plenty of responsibilities up its sleeve – all vital components ensuring vitality & longevity alongside us without ever once grabbing attention (Reminds me of my high school librarian?)

So next time you go in for an annual check-up, don’t forget about asking how well-tuned those tunicas are, give them some love too!

The End

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