How the heart works
Everyone knows that the heart is a vital organ. We cannot live without our heart. However, basically, the heart is just a pump - a complex and important one, but still just a pump.
As with all other pumps it can become clogged, break down and need repair. This is why it is critical that we know how the heart works. With a little knowledge about your heart and what is good or bad for it, you can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease.
The heart is about 5 inches (12 cm) long, 3.5 inches (8-9 cm) wide and 2.5 inches (6 cm) from front to back, and is roughly the size of your fist.
The average weight of a female human heart is nine ounces and a male's heart is 10.5 ounces. The heart comprises less than 0.5% of your total body weight.
how does it function
The left side of the heart collects oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body so that the cells throughout your body have the oxygen they need to function properly.
The right side of the heart collects oxygen-poor blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs where it picks up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
amazing heart facts!
- The average heartbeat is 72 times per minute.
- In the course of one day it beats more than 100,000 times.
- In one year the heart beats almost 38 million times, and by the time you are 70 years old, on average, it has reached 2.5 billion beats.