Fascinating facts about the human cardiovascular system
The human heart and the miles of blood vessels that snake through the body are a wonder to behold. Made up of three independent components, the cardiovascular system functions best when these three components, which include the heart, lungs and portal vessels, work cohesively.
Each day 2,000 gallons of blood travel through the blood vessels to provide oxygenated blood to the body and remove waste materials, including carbon dioxide. That’s a lot of traveling. In fact, according to LiveScience, if you were to lay out all of the arteries, capillaries and veins in one adult from end-to-end, they would stretch roughly 60,000 miles, which means that our blood vessels could wrap around the Earth 2.5 times.
The human cardiovascular system is nothing short of fascinating, and the following are some even more remarkable facts about this wonder of nature, courtesy of Mercola, PBS, CPR Certified medical training group, and LiveScience.
• The heart beats around 2.5 billion times in the average person’s lifetime.
• A woman’s heart typically beats faster than a man’s heart, at a rate of 78 times per minute (mens’ hearts beat 70 times per minute).
• The corneas in a person’s eyes are the only bodily cells that do not receive a blood supply.
• The thumping sound of the heart is made by the four valves of the heart closing.
• If a heart has an adequate supply of oxygen, it can beat even when separated from the body, thanks to its own electrical impulse.
• Healthy bone marrow will constantly manufacture new red blood cells.
• Within a tiny droplet of blood, there are about 5 million red blood cells.
• The right ventricle is responsible for moving blood to the lungs, where it will receive fresh oxygen and nutrients.
The left atrium and left ventricle receive this oxygenated blood back from the lungs.
The cardiovascular system is an amazing component of the human body.