If a patient experiences a sudden increase in blood viscosity due to dehydration, which consequence follows regarding cardiovascular hemodynamics?

💡 Explanation

Increased blood viscosity elevates vascular resistance because it hinders blood flow through vessels. Therefore, vascular resistance increases, rather than arterioles passively dilating or blood pressure decreasing immediately; cardiac output decreases only later as a result.

• Why does chronic kidney disease increase risk of arterial calcification, specifically impacting elastin fibers?
• Why does repeated cocaine use lead to decreased sensitivity to natural rewards?
• Why does calcium oxalate, rather than calcium phosphate, primarily form kidney stones in individuals with hypocitraturia?
• If a patient's retinal bipolar cells lose their ability to respond to glutamate released by photoreceptors, which consequence follows?
• If a patient reports diminished fine touch discrimination in their fingertips following median nerve compression at the carpal tunnel, which consequence follows regarding the activation of mechanoreceptors?
• Why does prolonged hypertension damage cerebral blood vessels?