Heart and Lungs

Timothy R Anderson

October 28, 2012

Capella University

BIO1000 - Human Biology

U03A01

Heart and Lungs

The heart is the battery of a person’s life. It beats 80,000 plus times a day while pumping 2000 gallons of blood. In order to do this it is made up of muscle different then skeletal muscle. It is the key factor that keeps plasma pumping throughout the body. As the heart pumps blood it is transferred through the arteries. These arteries inside are very smooth on the inside to allow blood flow at high levels. Mean- while the outside of these arteries are very strong to withstand this force. Through the arteries, blood vessels and capillaries oxygenated blood is delivered to all the cells in the body. The heart is constantly working to keep all vital organs and the body alive. If it stops beating death is imminent, unless it can be revived to do its job.

Once the oxygenated blood reaches its desired cell or body part it begins to get circulated back to the heart. In a process called systemic circulation the blood is circulated through the kidneys where most of the waste is excreted. It also passes through the small intestines and liver filtering the sugars out of the blood and stores it. The plasma is now clean and travels through one of two main veins to the heart. With each contraction of the heart drives the plasma through the right atrium then pushes it to the right ventricle. Then it is pushed through the pulmonary vein in the lungs. In the lungs are capillaries, these capillaries take the carbonized blood and filters it to oxygen rich plasma which then enters the pulmonary vein and pumps through the left atrium and continues