Artery & Vein Royalty-Free Stock Photo

Blood flows away from a body`s heart via arteries, which branch and narrow into arterioles, and then branch further still into capillaries. Arteries, like veins, are tube-shaped vessels that carry blood in the body. The chief difference between arteries and veins is the job that they do. Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body, and veins carry oxygen-poor blood back from the body to the heart. Veins and Arteries. There are two types of blood vessels in the circulatory system of the body: arteries that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to various parts of the body and veins that carry blood towards the heart for purification. There are three major types of blood vessels: the arteries, which carry the blood away from the heart; the capillaries, which enable the actual exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and the tissues; and the veins, which carry blood from the capillaries back toward the heart.