KEY POINTS

1. Heart failure is compensated for by both Starling's mechanism and the arterial baroreflex.

2. Serious complications secondary to heart failure include exercise intolerance, edema, salt and water retention, uremia, kidney failure, septic shock, and decompensation.

3. The immediate cardiovascular effects of hemorrhage are minimized by compensations initiated by the atrial volume receptor reflex and the arterial baroreceptor reflex.

4. The blood volume lost in hemorrhage is restored through a combination of capillary fluid shifts and hormonal and behavioral responses.

5. The initiation of exercise involves an interplay of local and neural changes that increases cardiac output and delivers increased flow to exercising muscle.