Anatomy of Heart

HEART is nothing more than a pump, composed of muscle which pumps blood throughout the body, beating approximately 72 times per minute. The pumping of the heart is called the Cardiac Cycle. There are about 100 trillion cells in the human body. For each of these cells to survive and perform its function, each cell needs to receive nutrition, replenish oxygen and remove waste. The circulatory system performs these functions for the cells. The arteries, veins and capillaries are the conduits; the heart, the main pump, powers the entire system.

Arteries

Arteries are thick vessels that carry blood away from the heart. The arteries generally carry oxygenated blood except the pulmonary artery.  Our bodies actually have two circulatory systems: The pulmonary circulation is a short loop from the heart to the lungs and back again, and the systemic circulation (the system we usually think of as our circulatory system) sends blood from the heart to all the other parts of our bodies and back again. The smaller arteries are called arterioles that eventually connect with capillaries.

Cardiac Cycle

The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood to all the tissues in your body through a network of blood vessels. The human heart is four-chambered consisting of two atria and two ventricles. The right side of the heart pumps blood through the lungs where it picks up oxygen. The left side of the heart receives the blood containing oxygen and pumps the blood to the rest of your body. Veins bring deoxygenated blood cells to the lungs that is oxygenated and sent back to heart. In this way, a continuous cycle is formed of the heart pumping oxygenated blood and de-oxygenated blood out to their designated destinations. In this way, our heart maintains the circulatory system.

• Systole: the ventricles of heart are contracting resulting in blood being pumped out to the lungs and the rest of the body.
• Diastole: The ventricles of the heart are relaxed and not contracting. During this stage, the atria are filled with blood and pump blood into the ventricles.

How Long our Organs Can Survive without Blood

• Brain                                  –    4       Minutes
• Heart                                 –  15       Minutes
• Skin                                    –   120   Minutes
• Muscles                            –   120   Minutes
• Liver                                 –      45   Minutes
•  Kidneys                           –      60  Minutes
• Intestines                        –   190  Minutes

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