ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Circulatory System

The circulatory system in humans is a network of blood vessels through which the heart pumps the blood and keeps the blood in circulation. The circulation system provides blood to each cell in the body. The circulatory system comprises of two sub systems cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular system consists of the heart, blood and the blood vessels in the form of arteries and veins. The lymphatic system consists of the lymph vessels, lymphatic nodes and lymph. There are two categories of blood vessels arteries and veins. The arteries carry the oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body where it distributes the oxygen and nutrients. The veins carry the deoxygenated blood from the body organs back to the heart. The heart pushes the deoxygenated blood to the lungs, where the blood exchanges the carbon dioxide with fresh oxygen and is returned to the heart for recirculation to the body organs. When the blood reaches the intestines, it collects nutrients for distribution and discards the waste collected from the body cells to the intestines. The blood carries the oxygen and the nutrients to the tissues of the body where it exchanges them with carbon dioxide and waste from the cells. Waste like toxins are released into the kidneys. Another important role of blood is to carry the white blood platelets that have the capacity to fight germs and contain diseases to the infection areas. Therefore, blood helps the immune system of the body.

The Heart The heart is a special involuntary muscle called the cardiac muscle. Involuntary muscles keep working on their own without our intervention or effort. The heart is divided into two sides divided by the septum. Each side has two chambers a ventricle and an atrium. The left side of the heart is responsible for pumping the oxygenated blood from the lungs to the rest of the body. The right side of the heart is responsible for bringing the deoxygenated blood back to the lungs. The heart keeps beating rhythmically using an electrical signal from the sinoatrial node located at the top of the heart. An electrocardiograph machine can record these electric impulses to study the performance of the heart. The heart is a very important part of the circulatory system. If a part of the blood is lost, one can survive as the blood can get regenerated very quickly. However, any damage to the heart can be fatal. The heart is made up of involuntary cardiac muscles that keep the heart beating without any manual intervention as long as it remains healthy. Blood Vessels The cardiovascular system part of the circulatory system is a closed network of blood vessels through which the blood keeps circulating due to the action of the heart. The blood vessels that carry the oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body organs are called the arteries. The blood vessels that collect the deoxygenated blood and bring it back to the heart are called the veins. The blood vessels are thick near the heart and divide into smaller arteries and finally into capillaries that are only one cell layer thick. Just to compare, the largest arteries called the aorta and the largest vein called the vena cava are each about an inch in diameter! Lymph When the blood carries the nutrition to the individual cells and collects waste, it forms the interstitial fluid between the cells of a tissue to transfer the nutrients to the cells. The lymphatic system is a network of one way vessels that collect the interstitial fluid called lymph into the lymph vessels which push the lymph by rhythmic contractions through several lymph nodes on the way into the subclavian veins where the lymph mixes back with the blood. Blood The blood is composed of a fluid called plasma that contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The plasma carries the proteins, hormones and minerals from one part of the body to the other. The red blood cells contain hemoglobin which helps to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body parts. The white blood cells help to fight infections and diseases. The blood platelets help to clot after an injury thereby preventing an excess loss of blood.

Blood performs many important functions within the body including: Supply of oxygen to tissues (bound to hemoglobin, which is carried in red cells) Supply of nutrients such as glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood or bound to plasma proteins) Removal of waste such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid Immunological functions, including circulation of white blood cells, and detection of foreign material by antibodies Coagulation, which is one part of the body's self-repair mechanism Messenger functions, including the transport of hormones and the signaling of tissue damage Regulation of body pH (the normal pH of blood is in the range of 7.35 - 7.45) Regulation of core body temperature Hydraulic functions PREVENTING BLOOD LOSS When a blood vessel is damaged, blood can leak into other tissues and interfere with the normal tissue function or blood can be lost from the body. Small amounts of blood from the body can be tolerated but new blood must be produced to replace the loss blood. If large amounts of blood are lost, death can occur. BLOOD CLOTTING Platelet plugs alone are not sufficient to close large tears or cults in blood vessels. When a blood vessel is severely damaged, blood clotting or coagulation results in the formation of a clot. A clot is a network of threadlike protein fibers called fibrin, which traps blood cells, platelets and fluids. The formation of a blood clot depends on a number of proteins found within plasma called clotting factors. Normally the clotting factors are inactive and do not cause clotting. Following injury however, the clotting factors are activated to produce a clot. This is a complex process involving chemical reactions, but it can be summarized in 3 main stages; the chemical reactions can be stated in two ways: just as with platelets, the contact of inactive clotting factors with exposed connective tissue can result in their activation. Chemicals released from injured tissues can also cause activation of clotting factors. After the initial clotting factors are activated, they in turn activate other clotting factors. A series of reactions results in which each clotting factor activates the next clotting factor in the series until the clotting factor prothrombin activator is formed. Prothrombin activator acts on an inactive clotting factor called prothrombin. Prothrombin is converted to its active form called thrombin. Thrombin converts the inactive clotting factor fibrinogen into its active form, fibrin. The fibrin threads form a network which traps blood cells and platelets and forms the clots. CONTROL OF CLOT FORMATION Without control, clotting would spread from the point of its initiation throughout the entire circulatory system. To prevent unwanted clotting, the blood contains several anticoagulants which prevent clotting factors from forming clots. Normally there are enough anticoagulants in the blood to prevent clot formation. At the injury site, however, the stimulation for activating

clotting factors is very strong. So many clotting factors are activated that the anticoagulants no longer can prevent a clot from forming. CLOT RETRACTION AND DISSOLUTION After a clot has formed, it begins to condense into a denser compact structure by a process known as clot retraction. Serum, which is plasma without its clotting factors, is squeezed out of the clot during clot retraction. Consolidation of the clot pulls the edges of the damaged vessels together, helping the stop of the flow of blood, reducing the probability of infection and enhancing healing. The damaged vessel is repaired by the movement of fibroblasts into damaged area and the formation of the new connective tissue. In addition, epithelial cells around the wound divide and fill in the torn area. The clot is dissolved by a process called fibrinolysis. An inactive plasma protein called plasminogen is converted to its active form, which is called plasmin. Thrombin and other clotting factors activated during clot formation, or tissue plasminogen activator released from surrounding tissues, stimulate the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin. Over a period of a few days the plasmin slowly breaks down the fibrin.