The heart is what? What is the heart of man?

The heart is the main organ of man. It is this pump that pumps blood into the blood vessels. While the heart beats - a person lives. But if he stops doing his important work, life will stop too.

Principle of the pump

Modern research has shown that each of the striated muscle fibers is a kind of "peripheral heart". And their reduction stimulates the progress of blood. It is for this reason that physical activity makes the work of the heart much easier, but due to hypodynamia, it must, on the contrary, work in an enhanced mode. By the way, this is one of the most common factors in the violation of its main functions. As you know, blood enters the capillaries (where very low pressure) from the aorta (there, on the contrary, high). How is it possible to maintain a balance? The heart is a whole system, and, one can say, it is perfect. The nature is thought out, and this balance is maintained due to the fact that the blood entering the capillaries from the aorta passes through the vessels, and in them the pressure decreases. Further, it enters the venules, and through them already 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 one cycle of relaxation and contraction, and after all, they are countless in number in a day. Scientists have calculated that in 24 hours a person's heart rests for 16 hours, and 8 - is shortened. It should be noted one more interesting statistics. 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 beats / min is the indicator of a one-year-old child. Over the course of our life, our main engine is reduced to about 3 100 000 000 - it is only worth thinking about how big this figure is! And, finally, another amazing fact. The heart is the organ through which about 250 million liters of blood pass through our whole life! It is really doing a tremendous job. So you need to monitor your health, and even more so - behind your heart, regularly supplying it with vitamins and beneficial substances.

Cardiac Nervous System

The human body is one continuous nerve. And in their heart and at all countless numbers. Despite the fact that in this body the innervation comes from the sympathetic trunk, as well as from the vagus nerve, this all has only a regulatory effect. Excitation occurs in the direction from top to bottom of the node located in the interatrial septum. Then this signal is transmitted to the so-called atrioventricular node (it is the boundary of the ventricles and atria). And the final "point" is the ventricles. The signal extends to all of his musculature.

What does the heart look like?

A real heart, the photo of which has nothing to do with the image that arises in the representation of each person when it is mentioned, looks like a cone-shaped organ with adjacent arteries and venous trunks. If to explain in words, then it resembles a slightly flattened egg with a slightly edged downward edge and a system of large vessels from above. If we talk about forms and sizes, then it should be noted that they differ from each person. It depends on the physique, sex, age and health. The heart is located almost in the middle of the chest, but closer to the left side. Here everything depends on the individual characteristics of the human body: some express it more vividly, others do not. Known cases of pathology, when the heart is on the right side. However, this mirror arrangement of organs, and people with such features are rare.

Structure of the organ

So, what is the heart, it is clear, and how it looks - too. But this is not all the information that should be known about this body. One must also be aware of what it consists of. So, the heart is a hollow organ, but there are as many as four cavities performing pumping functions. Two auricles and two ventricles are the main components of it. The second of the listed - the most massive. Heart palpitations are created precisely by their muscular mass, and to be more precise, with the help of the left ventricle. By the way, with atria they are connected by special apertures, equipped with valves. What is the role of the second component? Atria have a less developed muscular wall, but they also contract. For example, the right enters the venous blood, and the left - the arterial blood. If one understands the question of what the heart is, then one can say with certainty that all the vessels, veins, arteries and valves are connected to each other, and together they form a unique organ through which man can exist.

Heart diseases

To my great regret, the heart is not a perpetuum mobile. This body works continuously from the moment of the appearance of man to the light and to his last sigh on the Earth. Previously, it was said about how much work he does. Some people do not attach importance to this and overload their heart. Others completely forget about its existence and cease to monitor their health. Not surprisingly, heart disease is considered the most common today. They are subject to a huge number of people. And the symptoms are the most innocuous, at first glance, signs. Sweating, for example. Or swelling. If a person suffers from cardiac insufficiency, the body loses fluid. Because of this, there are edemas. A sharp increase in weight or, conversely, a decrease in weight may also indicate problems with the heart. 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 abdomen, neck, jaw, hands or other parts of the body - this is also an excuse to worry. Do not be afraid to go to the doctor. With a heart, jokes are bad, therefore it is extremely undesirable to delay with diagnostics and treatment. Otherwise, then it may be too late.