Facts about heart
Every day, your heart beats (which means it expands and contracts) an impressive 100,000 times. That adds up to more than 2.5 billion heartbeats in the average lifetime.
Even if all the nerves to your heart were cut, it would keep beating if separated from your body. That's because the heart has its own electrical system. It just needs oxygen to keep beating.
A heart that's bigger than it should be is called an enlarged heart. It's weak and holds fluids, causing it to beat irregularly and making the lungs get congested. Sometimes you can help prevent it by taking care of your heart -- eat healthy, exercise, and watch your weight. Otherwise, drugs and devices like pacemakers can help treat the condition.
A stressful event -- like a breakup or even winning the lottery -- can bring on sudden chest pains that feel like a heart attack. Those pains are triggered by a rush of stress hormones. The good news is that “broken heart syndrome” is usually treatable and goes away within a couple of weeks.
You likely put your hand on the left side of your chest when thinking of your ticker. Your heart is in the center, though, between your lungs. The bottom of your heart is tipped to the left, which is why you feel it beating a little more on that side.
Your heart is a strong muscle that pumps blood to all the organs in your body -- 2,000 gallons' worth each day! During an average lifetime, a heart will pump 1 million barrels of blood.
On Dec. 3, 1967, South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard transplanted a heart from a 25-year-old accident victim into a 53-year-old man. The man died 18 days later of pneumonia, but Barnard considered the transplant a success. It was followed days later by the first American transplant at Stanford University in California. Now, thousands of heart transplants are done worldwide each year, with roughly 75% of patients surviving for more than 5 years.
You have two upper chambers (left and right atria) and two lower chambers (left and right ventricles). They're separated by a wall of muscle called the septum. The left ventricle is the largest, strongest chamber. It pushes blood through the aortic valve into your body.
Apes' and monkeys' hearts are closest to humans'. The hearts are similar to people's in how they look and work. But many scientists studying the use of animals as organ donors for people think the pig might be the most promising. Lots of research is being done. more
Every day, your heart beats (which means it expands and contracts) an impressive 100,000 times. That adds up to more than 2.5 billion heartbeats in the average lifetime.
Even if all the nerves to your heart were cut, it would keep beating if separated from your body. That's because the heart has its own electrical system. It just needs oxygen to keep beating.
A heart that's bigger than it should be is called an enlarged heart. It's weak and holds fluids, causing it to beat irregularly and making the lungs get congested. Sometimes you can help prevent it by taking care of your heart -- eat healthy, exercise, and watch your weight. Otherwise, drugs and devices like pacemakers can help treat the condition.
A stressful event -- like a breakup or even winning the lottery -- can bring on sudden chest pains that feel like a heart attack. Those pains are triggered by a rush of stress hormones. The good news is that “broken heart syndrome” is usually treatable and goes away within a couple of weeks.
You likely put your hand on the left side of your chest when thinking of your ticker. Your heart is in the center, though, between your lungs. The bottom of your heart is tipped to the left, which is why you feel it beating a little more on that side.
Your heart is a strong muscle that pumps blood to all the organs in your body -- 2,000 gallons' worth each day! During an average lifetime, a heart will pump 1 million barrels of blood.
On Dec. 3, 1967, South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard transplanted a heart from a 25-year-old accident victim into a 53-year-old man. The man died 18 days later of pneumonia, but Barnard considered the transplant a success. It was followed days later by the first American transplant at Stanford University in California. Now, thousands of heart transplants are done worldwide each year, with roughly 75% of patients surviving for more than 5 years.
You have two upper chambers (left and right atria) and two lower chambers (left and right ventricles). They're separated by a wall of muscle called the septum. The left ventricle is the largest, strongest chamber. It pushes blood through the aortic valve into your body.
Apes' and monkeys' hearts are closest to humans'. The hearts are similar to people's in how they look and work. But many scientists studying the use of animals as organ donors for people think the pig might be the most promising. Lots of research is being done. more
Viewed by 50
