The heart is the main organ of man. It is this pump that pumps blood into the vessels. While the heart beats, the person lives. But should he stop doing his important work, life will stop too.
Pump principle
Modern research has shown that each of the striated muscle fibers is a kind of “peripheral heart”. And their contractions stimulate blood flow. It is for this reason that physical activity makes the work of the heart much easier, but because of physical inactivity it should, on the contrary, work in an enhanced mode. By the way, this is one of the most common factors in violation of its main functions. As you know, blood enters the capillaries (where the pressure is very low) from the aorta (there, on the contrary, is high). How is balance maintained? The heart is a whole system, and, one might say, it is perfect. Everything is thought out by nature, and this same balance is maintained due to the fact that blood entering the capillaries from the aorta passes through the vessels, and the pressure in them decreases. Then it enters the venules, and through them into the veins.
Heart cycle
The heart is an organ that does a great job. It is a combination of various biochemical, mechanical and even electrical processes. All this happens during only one cycle of relaxation and contraction, and in fact countless quantities of them are performed per day. Scientists have calculated that in 24 hours a person’s heart rests for 16 hours, and 8 - is reduced. Attention should be paid to one more interesting statistic. Few people know that with age, the number of contractions that are carried out by the heart decreases. That is, the frequency decreases. The heart of a person whose age exceeds 60 years is reduced 80 times per minute. But 125 bpm is an indicator of a one-year-old child. Over the course of our lives, our main motor has been reduced by about 3.1 billion - you just have to think about how big a figure this is! And finally, another amazing fact. The heart is the organ through which about 250 million liters of blood passes through our whole life! It does really tremendous work. So you need to monitor your health, and even more so - for the heart, regularly supplying it with vitamins and useful substances.
Cardiac nervous system
The human body is one continuous nerve. And in their heart there are countless numbers. Despite the fact that the innervation of this organ comes from the sympathetic trunk, as well as from the vagus nerve, all this has only a regulatory effect. Excitation occurs from top to bottom from a node located in the interatrial septum. Then this signal is transmitted to the so-called atrioventricular node (it is the border of the ventricles and atria). And the final “point” is the ventricles. The signal extends to its entire musculature.
What does the heart look like?
A real heart, the photo of which has nothing to do with the image that appears in the view of each person when he is mentioned, looks like a cone-shaped organ with adjacent arteries and venous trunks. If you explain in words, it resembles a slightly flattened egg with a slightly pointed edge down and a system of large vessels on top. If we talk about shapes and sizes, then it should be noted that they differ for each person. It depends on physique, gender, age and health. The heart is located almost in the middle of the chest, but closer to the left side. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the human body: for some it is more pronounced, for others it is not very. There are also known cases of pathology when the heart is on the right side. However, this is a mirror arrangement of organs, and people with such features are quite rare.
Organ structure
So, what a heart is, it is clear, and how it looks - too. But this is far from all the information that you should know about this body. One must also be aware of what it consists of. So, the heart is a hollow organ, but there are four cavities in it that perform pumping functions. Two atria and two ventricles - these are its main components. The second of these are the most massive. Heartbeats are created precisely by their muscle mass, and more precisely, with the help of the left ventricle. By the way, they are connected to the atria with special holes equipped with valves. What is the role of the second component? The atria are characterized by less developed muscle wall, but they also contract. For example, venous blood enters the right, and arterial blood enters the left. If you look at the issue of what the heart is, you can only say with certainty: all the vessels, veins, arteries and valves are connected to each other, and together they form a unique organ, thanks to which a person can exist.
Heart diseases
Unfortunately, the heart is not a perpetual motion machine. This organ works continuously from the moment a person comes into the world until his last breath on Earth. It was previously said how much work he is doing. Some people do not attach any importance to this and overload their heart. Others completely forget about its existence and cease to monitor their health. It is not surprising that heart disease is considered the most common today. They are subject to a huge number of people. And the symptoms are the most harmless, at first glance, signs. Sweating, for example. Or swelling. If a person suffers from heart failure, then fluid is retained in the body. Because of this, edema occurs. A sharp increase in weight or, conversely, its decrease can also indicate heart problems. Shortness of breath is another symptom. Of course, it is also observed in lung diseases (COPD or asthma), but heart failure is also characterized by it. Pain in the chest extending to the stomach, neck, jaw, arms, or other parts of the body is also a reason to worry. Do not be afraid to go to the doctor. Jokes with the heart are bad, so delaying the diagnosis and treatment is highly undesirable. Otherwise, it may be too late.