MEDICAL PHYSIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -A blood pressure gradient refers to a difference in the blood pressure between two points in the vasculature. Note that the absolute value of blood pressure at these points is not relevant to blood flow. The only value of importance is the relative difference in pressure between these two points.

Detailed explanation-2: -Increasing resistance in a vessel, such as the constriction of an arteriole, causes a decrease in blood flow across the arteriole. At the same time, there is a larger decrease in pressure across this point because the pressure is lost by overcoming the resistance.

Detailed explanation-3: -By increasing the pressure gradient, there will be more of this movement from areas of high pressure (arteries) to areas of low pressure (veins). This increased movement means there will be more blood and more force pushing blood forward in veins. This overall leads to an increase in blood flow.