Fascinating Facts About The Heart To Get Your Blood Pumping
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The heart is a muscle or a muscular organ that is situated in the middle of our chest but is a little inclined towards the left side.
The human heart is actually a pump or rather two pumps fused together as one. It supplies the body with oxygen and nutrients and removes impurities.
The heart is made of specialized muscles called cardiac muscles which are striated and not in our control. These muscles are therefore also known as involuntary muscles.
They undergo contraction and relaxation without rest, which we call heartbeats. It is amazing how the heart continues to function throughout one's life, that is, it starts beating even before a person is born and continues till death. The heart is enclosed in a double-membraned pericardium.
The space between the two membranes is filled with pericardial fluid which acts as a shock absorber. Read on to learn more about fun facts about the human heart.
If you like reading amazing and fun facts about the heart and love, do check out other articles like facts about energy and facts about trees.
What is special about the heart?
The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from various parts of the body which the heart pumps to the lungs to get oxygenated. While on the other hand the left part receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and distributes it to the entire body.
The heart is made up of four chambers. The top two chambers are called the atria. A single such chamber is called an atrium. The atria are filled with blood that is returning from the body and lungs. The bottom chambers are called the ventricles. These chambers pump out blood to the lungs and body parts.
The septum is a thick wall of muscle that runs from the middle of the heart and separates the left and right sides. Four valves inside the heart which act as doors keep the blood from flowing backward.
The mitral and tricuspid valves do not allow blood to flow from the ventricles to the atria, whereas the aortic and pulmonary valves check the blood flow as it exits the heart.
The beating of the heart is actually its expansion and contraction. The heartbeat or the heart sound is known as 'lub-dub'. Closing of the mitral and tricuspid valve produces the first sound that is 'lub'.
The second sound, 'dub' is heard when the aortic and pulmonary valves close down. Blood vessels are the conduits through which blood is distributed to various parts of the body. There are three types of blood vessels.
Arteries carry oxygenated blood and appear red. Veins appear blue and carry deoxygenated blood. Capillaries join the arteries with the veins.
An average human heart is slightly larger than a human fist and it pumps around 1500-2000 gal (5678-7570.8 l) of blood each day through the circulatory system. A child's heart rate, ranging from the age group of 6-15 is 70-100 beats per minute while an adult heart rate is 60-100 beats per minute.
The heart beats approximately 100000 times every day and each beat squirts out blood from the heart. The adult heart squirts out more blood than a child's heart.
How strong is a human heart?
Our heart is an extremely strong and powerful muscle present in our chest, that can be made fitter and stronger just like other muscles of the human body. This can be achieved with the help of physical exercise and activity. Read to learn more about incredible facts about the human heart.
The heart can be made more efficient that is the beats per minute can be reduced even when physical activity is more. An efficient heart reduces the risk of contracting various heart diseases like arrhythmia, atherosclerotic, valvular heart disease, coronary heart disease that results from diabetes, high or low blood pressure and such.
Heart attacks are caused by the blockage of arteries which stops the blood supply and puts a person's life at risk as they stop getting enough oxygen.
Any sort of heart disease is generally a result of smoking, consuming a high protein or high-fat diet, diabetes, excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol, unhealthy lifestyle, or lack of exercise. Some symptoms of heart disease are weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in legs, ankles, feet and sometimes abdomen area, irregular heartbeat.
On noticing such symptoms a doctor should immediately be consulted. Treatment of heart disease should never be delayed.
How much does the heart weigh?
The estimated weight of a heart, which is about the size of a human fist, is around 1 lb (454 g).
A woman's heart is slightly lighter and beats faster than a man's heart. Whereas, a man's heart pumps more blood with each beat than that of a woman.
Stress causes diverse effects on the heart of a man and woman. In a man, the arteries contract, when at rest leading to high blood pressure, while in a woman the heart rate rises causing more blood to be pumped when at stress.
Why do we need a heart?
The heart is one of the most important organs. It is our source of life and the main part of the circulatory system. This vital body part not only provides oxygenated blood to all the tissues but also clears our body of all the waste materials and impurities.
Contraction of the ventricles of the heart known as systole, pump out blood to various parts of the body. At the same time diastole occurs which is the relaxation of the auricles, to receive the blood brought in from different parts of the body.
Both these phases occur in a rhythmic manner one after the other and together form the cardiac cycle. A sudden malfunction in this cycle, resulting in loss of heartbeats or difficulty in breathing is known as cardiac arrest.
Heart attack on the other hand is when a person develops an abnormal heart rhythm.
Cardiac arrests are therefore not the same as heart attacks. In fact, a cardiac arrest in adults can be caused by a heart attack.
In such cases, immediate medical attention is required and an artificial heartbeat is added to the system with the implantation of a device called a pacemaker. Heart disease and its symptoms should never be neglected and need immediate medical attention and treatment.
It is important that we take care of our heart health. A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of heart disease.
We can take some simple steps to improve our heart health. Eating healthy, maintaining a healthy weight, staying active, managing stress, avoiding smoking and consumption of alcohol, keeping cholesterol and blood pressure under control are some preliminary steps.
Other than that a yearly health check-up and visiting the doctor on noticing symptoms of heart disease can save one from medical emergencies.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for facts about the heart then why not take a look at why do we die of old age, or why do atoms bond?
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