Paramedics have administered a medication to a patient with heart failure. The medication specifically causes the veins (only) to dilate, thereby decreasing the amount of blood that returns to the heart for pumping. The EMT would recognize this action as decreasing:

Pathophysiology is a medical science that studies how diseases affect the body's systems. It combines the study of pathology (the causes and effects of disease) and physiology (how the body's systems function).

Related Test: Prehospital Emergency Care Practice Test: Basic Anatomy, Physiology, and Medical Terminology