"PUMP IT UP"! Come explore the body’s blood pumping machine. Learn fascinating facts about how the human heart is constructed, how it works, and how to care for it.

During systole, or ventricular contraction, the ventricles are forcing blood out as they contract and the atria are filling with blood. Diastole, on the other hand, describes the ventricles during relaxation when they refill with blood being squeezed from the atria.

The human heart beats fastest during infancy, approximately 120 beats per minute.

The human heart beats more than 2.5 BILLION times, on average.

The mitral, or bicuspid valve, lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle.

Non-modifiable risk factors for heart attack include family history (genetics), a person’s sex, and age. Smoking, obesity, stress, exercise, high blood pressure, and diet are considered modifiable risk factors .

ACE (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme) inhibitors act to block the effects of Angiotensin II which constricts blood vessels. Thus, ACE inhibitors reduce the strain on the heart by lowering blood pressure and relaxing smaller arteries.

To keep beating the heart must have energy (ATP) and a source of electrical stimulation (brainstem). ( I would also add oxygen.)

Pacemakers are most commonly implanted due to an abnormally slow heart rate, a condition known as bradycardia.

The coronary vessels circulate blood to and from the heart tissue (myocardium). The coronary arteries, in particular, supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood.

Blood pressure is affected by the total blood volume, the strength and rate of the heart, and the elasticity of the arteries.

Culminating Question:

Knowing how a healthy heart is constructed and operates, how do you suppose smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, obesity, and stress can cause heart disease?

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