Our body is one of the coolest working systems ever! One of the most amazing organs is the heart, and it is also one of the most important! The heart helps your entire body, and you cannot survive without it. So what are some heart facts we should all know?
Main Function of Your Heart
Your heart is about the size of your fist. It is a strong muscle inside your body and is protected by your rib cage. The heart is located in the center of the chest, a little off to the life side. It is not all the way to the left side of your body like many believe!
This body part is the central part of the circularity system, and it connects to miles of blood vessels that touch each body part of a human. There are over 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body, and the heart makes sure blood runs through every mile of blood vessels! The heart helps with blood flow. Blood flow is the process of blood going through your lungs, heart chambers, valves, and blood vessels.
The heart is made up of four different parts the right ventricle, right atrium, left ventricle, and left atrium. Heart valves prevent blood from flowing backward. These parts are all protected by a thick wall of muscle, and it is important to keep a healthy heart, or you will not have enough energy to enjoy your favorite activities.
The heart is made of upper and lower chambers. The left side of your heart receives oxygen-rich blood or blood full of oxygen from your lungs and pumps it to the rest of the body. The right side of your heart receives oxygen-poor blood or blood without oxygen and pumps it into your lungs to get rid of carbon dioxide. The pulmonary artery is the main artery for this.
The heart contracts or squeezes to send blood to the rest of the body, and the cardiac cycle is the process from one heartbeat to another. All of the functions and processes above help keep the cardiac cycle working correctly.
Ways to Keep a Healthy Heart
The heart is a living organ and needs to be kept healthy. Some ways are:
- Get exercise.
- Eat healthily.
- Stay at a healthy weight.
- Do not smoke and stay away from secondhand smoke.
- Watch your cholesterol. (Having a lot can cause coronary heart disease.)
- Pay attention to your blood pressure.
- Manage stress.
An important thing to remember is that your heart is a muscle, and you need to build its strength. If you have never run a marathon, do not expect to be able to run one after taking a couple of laps around a track. Your heart needs to grow stronger. Hearts are pretty special and we need to make sure to take care of them.
Fascinating Facts About the Heart
If you can believe it, the average heart beats about 100,000 times a day, and your blood pressure is directly related to your heart health. Blood pressure under 120/80 is considered in the healthy range. When exercising, excited, or nervous, your heart rate will increase.
The heart pumps about 2,500 gallons of blood throughout the human body. That is about 60 barrels of blood a day, or 2,500 milk jugs.
You may be able to feel your own heart beating; this is called heart palpitations. They are harmless and usually go away on their own. Sometimes, there is a medical reason for them, called arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm.
Fun Facts About the Heart
Here are some fun facts about the heart you may not know. The heart can live outside your body for a pretty long time, 4 to 6 hours, to be exact. Your heart can weigh between 7 and 15 ounces, so less than a pound. A man’s heart usually is 2 ounces larger than a women’s.
Although your heart is not furry, you apply the same amount of force it takes for the heart to contract and pump blood to each body part if you squeeze a tennis ball. Many people believe that when you sneeze, your heart stops, which is definitely not true!
You can feel a broken heart. Symptoms of a broken heart are similar to a heart attack but usually are caused by stress and not heart disease.
- Your heart grows with you, just like the size of a fist.
- The heart muscle is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissue. The other two are the skeletal muscle and smooth muscle.
- The average heartbeat of a woman is about 8 beats a minute faster than a man’s heartbeat.
- A woman’s heart is more likely to get coronary heart disease.
- No one knows how the heart became the symbol of love
The heart is definitely one of the most essential systems inside our body. Without it, your blood would not pump through your veins, your lungs would not be able to get rid of carbon dioxide, and you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the new Just Dance game you downloaded onto your iPad or tablet. Remember always to keep your heart healthy and keep it in tip-top shape!