Are veins more at risk for disease as opposed to arteries?

[StrawberryEllieBean]

Are veins more at risk for disease as opposed to arteries?

I was just thinking, since when a body part lacks oxygenation it turns cyanotic and typically falls off due to lack of tissue perfusion, could that be correlated with veins being blue and more at risk for disease as opposed to arterial vasculature? Since it picks up deoxygenated blood, is it less durable as opposed to arteries?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Interesting conjecture, but not quite accurate. Arterial & Venous disease are two different systems - each with their own characteristics & contributing factors. If you're interested in delving deeper into causation, you need to begin at the cellular level, structures, metabolism, functions, etc.

I like to do a 'compare and contrast' with students... e.g., what are the presenting signs associated with arterial insufficiency as opposed to venous insufficiency? Venous embolism vs. arterial embolism? What causes the differences? How would interventions differ? For instances, hot compress may be dandy for stimulation of venous flow, but contraindicated for poor arterial flow because heat would increase problems for tissues already starved for oxygen due to poor arterial circulation. . . . fascinating stuff, right?