The Heart and All Its Parts

When some people think of the heart, they may think of the popular valentine image that expresses love and sentiments towards others. However, the heart in the human body is a muscular double pump with two important functions: (1) the right side pumps blood to the lungs to pick oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide; (2) the left side receives the oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps the blood throughout the body to supply body tissues with oxygen and nutrients. The blood vessels that carry oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are part of the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. The heart has the atria, which are two receiving chambers that receive blood coming from the pulmonary circuit and systemic circuit. To pump blood around the two circuits, the heart has two main pumping chambers called ventricles.

The heart is an incredible muscle with strength and resilience. It is about the size of fist, hollow, and cone-shaped. For years, people have been trying to understand this unique organ but the most amazing thing about the heart is that it is constantly beating without voluntary control. We only become aware of this organ when and if it occasionally skips a beat. Until something like this happens or something even more serious occurs, such as a heart attack, we are not aware of how much we depend on this organ for life.

The heart is vital to the human body. Understanding how it works leads to better life choices in terms of health, fitness, and diet. Not only that, understanding this organ opens opportunities in science to provide better medicine and care for patients with heart abnormalities.