EVANGELISTA, Gabrielle Angela B.

NCMP112 – OXYGENATION (RR31)

Assignment #1

Review of the Cardiovascular system:

1. How does your heart work?

2. What are the different parts of a heart? What are its functions?
3. What are the different blood components? How does it differ from each other?
4. Illustrate the blood circulation from and to the heart and the general organs of the body

Preparation:
1. How the heart works.
The heart is at the center of my circulatory system, which is a network of blood vessels that delivers blood
to every part of my body. Blood carries oxygen and other important nutrients that all body organs need to
stay healthy and to work properly. My heart is a muscle, and its job is to pump blood throughout my
circulatory system.
How does my heart pump blood?
The heart is divided into two separate pumping systems, the right side and the left side.

• The right side of my heart receives oxygen-poor blood from my veins and pumps it to my lungs,
where it picks up oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide.
• The left side of my heart receives oxygen-rich blood from my lungs and pumps it through my
arteries to the rest of my body.
The heart has four separate chambers that pump blood, two on the right side and two on the left.
How does blood flow through the heart?
Blood flows through the heart and lungs in four steps:

• The right atrium receives oxygen-poor blood from the body and pumps it to the right ventricle
through the tricuspid valve.
• The right ventricle pumps the oxygen-poor blood to the lungs through the pulmonary valve.
• The left atrium receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the left ventricle
through the mitral valve.
• The left ventricle pumps the oxygen-rich blood through the aortic valve out to the rest of the
body.
The left and right atria are smaller chambers that pump blood into the ventricles. The left and right
ventricles are stronger pumps. The left ventricle is the strongest because it has to pump blood out to the
entire body. When your heart functions normally, all four chambers work together in a continuous and
coordinated effort to keep oxygen-rich blood circulating throughout your body. The heart has its own
electrical system that coordinates the work of the heart chambers (heart rhythm) and also controls the
frequency of beats (heart rate).
2. Parts of the heart and its function.

• Aorta: the largest artery; takes oxygenated blood from the left ventricle to the body
• Superior Vena Cava: is one of the two main veins bringing deoxygenated blood from the body
to the heart. Veins from the head and upper body enter SVC, which go to the right atrium of the
heart.
• Inferior Vena Cava: is also a large vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the lower body to
the heart.
• Pulmonary Artery: carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs
• Pulmonary Vein: takes oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium
• Left Atrium: oxygen-rich blood from the lungs enters the left atrium through the pulmonary vein
• Right Atrium: receives deoxygenated blood from the body
• Left Ventricles: receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium via the mitral valve and pumps it
to through the aorta
• Right Ventricles: the chamber within the heart that is responsible for pumping oxygen-depleted
blood to the lungs
• Tricuspid Valve (Atrioventricular Valve): prevents back flow of blood into the right atrium
• Bicuspid Valve (Mitral Valve): permits blood flow one way only, from the left atrium into the
left ventricle
• Pulmonary Valve: opened by the increased blood pressure of the ventricular systole (contraction
of the muscular tissue), pushing blood out of the heart and into the artery. It closes when the
pressure drops inside the heart
• Aortic Valve: prevents regurgitation of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle during
ventricular diastole and to allow the appropriate flow of blood—the cardiac output—from the left
ventricle into the aorta during ventricular systole
❖ The left atria and left ventricle are separated from the right atria and right ventricle by a wall of
muscle called the septum.
The wall of the heart consists of three layers of tissue:
• Epicardium — protective layer mostly made of connective tissue.
• Myocardium — the muscles of the heart.
• Endocardium — lines the inside of the heart and protects the valves and chambers.
These layers are covered in a thin protective coating called the pericardium.
The heart has four valves that help ensure that blood only flows in one direction:

• Aortic valve: between the left ventricle and the aorta.

• Mitral valve: between the left atrium and the left ventricle.
• Pulmonary valve: between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.
 • Tricuspid valve: between the right atrium and right ventricle.
Most people are familiar with the sound of a human heartbeat. It is often described as a “lub-DUB”
sound. The “lub” sound is produced by the tricuspid and mitral valves closing, and the “DUB” sound is
caused by the closing of the pulmonary and aortic valves.
There are three types of blood vessels:

• Arteries: carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Arteries are strong and
stretchy, which helps push blood through the circulatory system. Their elastic walls help
keep blood pressure consistent. Arteries branch into smaller arterioles.
• Veins: these carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart and increase in size as they get closer to
the heart. Veins have thinner walls than arteries.
• Capillaries: they connect the smallest arteries to the smallest veins. They have very thin walls,
which allow them to exchange compounds with surrounding tissues, such as carbon dioxide,
water, oxygen, waste, and nutrients.
3. Blood Components and their differences
Plasma
The liquid component of blood is called plasma, a mixture of water, sugar, fat, protein, and salts. The
main job of the plasma is to transport blood cells throughout your body along with nutrients, waste
products, antibodies, clotting proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and proteins that help
maintain the body's fluid balance.
Red Blood Cells (also called erythrocytes or RBCs)
Known for their bright red color, red cells are the most abundant cell in the blood, accounting for about
40 to 45 percent of its volume. The shape of a red blood cell is a biconcave disk with a flattened center -
in other words, both faces of the disc have shallow bowl-like indentations. Unlike many other cells, red
blood cells have no nucleus and can easily change shape, helping them fit through the various blood
vessels in your body.
White Blood Cells (also called leukocytes)
White blood cells protect the body from infection. They are much fewer in number than red blood cells,
accounting for about 1 percent of your blood.
Platelets (also called thrombocytes)
Unlike red and white blood cells, platelets are not actually cells but rather small fragments of cells.
Platelets help the blood clotting process (or coagulation) by gathering at the site of an injury, sticking to
the lining of the injured blood vessel, and forming a platform on which blood coagulation can occur.
4. Illustration of Blood Circulation

BLOOD COMING
FROM THE UPPER
SUPERIOR
PARTS OF THE
VENA CAVA
BODY
RIGHT ATRIUM TRICUSPID
BLOOD COMING VALVE
INFERIOR
FROM THE LOWER
VENA CAVA
PARTS OF THE
BODY

PULMONARY
LUNGS PULMONARY VALVE RIGHT VENTRICLE
ARTERY

BICUSPID LEFT VENTRICLE

PULMONARY VEIN LEFT ATRIUM
VALVE

CAPILLARIES ARTERIES AND AORTIC

AORTA
AND VEINS ARTERIOLES VALVE

DELIVERS
BLOOD TO THE
DIFFERENT
ORGANS OR
SYSTEM OF
THE BODY

Reference:

How the Heart Works. (n.d.). Retrieved August 08, 2020, from https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-
library/tx4097abc

The heart: Anatomy, physiology, and function. (n.d.). Retrieved August 08, 2020, from
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320565

Hematology Glossary. (n.d.). Retrieved August 08, 2020, from

https://www.hematology.org/education/patients/blood-basic