Resistance and Metabolic Activity of Heart

[TheGuru789]

So, as I know it, Flow= ΔP/R. Say you had a person with arteriosclerosis who had increased resistance in his blood vessels, would the heart have an increased heart beat/increased metabolic activity to compensate for the low flow?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[basophilic]

Not necessarily heart rate, but definitely will have higher blood pressure.
If you have increased resistance due to plaques, there will probably be an increased backup of blood into ventricle (i.e. increased afterload) leading to a larger net volume of blood left behind in ventricle (i.e. increased end systolic volume); to compensate for this, the heart will need to beat harder (i.e. increased contractility).