Arteries and Veins: What Is the Difference?

A quick video about the differences between arteries and veins. Arteries and veins are both blood vessels, but they're actually slightly different. Arteries are really the supply blood vessels. They take blood from the heart to the rest of the body, whereas veins are the return blood vessels, and they return blood to the heart.

The difference really is that they're structurally a little bit different, and functionally they're very different. Arteries tend to be thicker-walled. They tend to have muscular walls, and they have three layers. Veins are much more floppy, and veins have valves. What this means is that the signs and symptoms, and the diseases that people get, are very different.

Looking back at my two previous videos, a good example is claudication, which affects the arterial system. That's due to narrowings and blockages in the arterial system of the legs, and it causes cramping pain when walking in the calves, thighs or buttocks. Contrast that with varicose veins or venous reflux, where you also get cramping pain in the legs, but that also comes with leg swelling and pain that's worse at the end of the day. So that's just a very brief example of how they're different. Over the course of this month, we're going to talk about all manner of different arterial and venous problems, and I hope that helps explain a little bit of the difference between arteries and veins.