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When most peeps think of the word "heart" they think of love, romance and all that
mushy stuff. Those things are great and all, but let's also give your heart props for
what it really is - an amazingly powerful life-sustaining organ.
To put it simply, your heart is a pump. Much like that gizmo in your fish tank, your heart
moves liquid from one place to another. In the process, the heart re-oxygenates the
blood moving through it with the oxygen you breathe in. This is an essential process
cuz your blood supplies oxygen to your entire body. If you don't get oxygen for more
than a few minutes, you'll die.
Basic Anatomy
Your heart is a cone-shaped muscle in the middle of your chest, right between your
lungs. The average adult heart weighs between 9 - 10.5 ounces (255 - 298 grams) and
it pumps about 1,900 gallons (7,200 liters) of blood every day. The heart has three
layers: the endocardium (outside layer), the myocardium (middle layer) and the
pericardium (the fluid sack that surrounds the heart). The heart is also divided up into
four chambers, which each have a valve that allows blood to flow in, but prevents blood
from flowing backwards.
In Action
The heart squeezes blood out and into the rest of the circulatory system when it
contracts. When it expands, it sucks in poorly oxygenated blood and pushes through the
chambers and into the pulmonary artery, where it is re-oxygenated. Then the blood
makes its way out of the heart via the aorta and back into the body where it provides
your cells with oxygen.
Did U Know?
In the average person's life, their heart will beat 2.5 billion times.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in North America. More than 2,000
Americans die from heart disease everyday.
Your heart is about the size of your fist.
How The Lungs Work
Love
43
Hate
9
Your lungs can breathe in and out as much as 36,000 times a day without you even having to think about it.
Isn't it about time you reflected on all the hard work they do? We take a closer look at the inner workings of
your lungs.
We all know that oxygen is the key to living. It's in the air you breathe, in your lungs and in your blood. What
you might not know is how oxygen gets into your blood and how the blood carries oxygen through your body.
Arteries - Arteries have muscular walls that pump oxygen-filled blood away from your heart to the tissues
and organs, like the brain, kidneys and liver. Arteries get smaller as they get further from your heart. At their
smallest point, arteries become capillaries.
Capillaries - Capillaries are the tiniest blood vessels. They connect arteries to veins.
Veins - Veins are what bring the "used" blood back to your heart.