Your heart is a muscle that sits on the left side of your chest. It is about the size of your fist, and it beats, on average, about 70 times each minute. When you start to work, your muscles need more oxygen and sugar to make fuel. Your heart works faster to deliver these components to your muscles. When you relax at the end of the day, your heart slows down because your body does not need as much fuel. A healthy heart keeps all your body systems working.
How the Heart Works
Your heart is the central point for blood to release waste products and recharge with oxygen. Returning blood fills the right upper chamber, or atrium, of the heart. Next the muscle contraction pushes the blood down into the lower chamber or ventricle. From the ventricle, blood is pumped into the lungs to drop off waste products and pick up fresh oxygen. Oxygenated blood returns to the left upper chamber of the heart. The next heartbeat pushes it into the left ventricle, and then out into the body. The electrical system of the heart sends signals that cause the muscle to contract. The signal begins at the sinoatrial node, or SA node, and travels down through muscle fibers in the ventricles to make them contract.
Irregular Heartbeats
If your heart is not healthy you can experience many problems. If the electrical system of your heart does not work properly, you could have an irregular heartbeat. Your heart could pump too fast or too slow. A fast heart rate is tachycardia. A slow heart rate is bradycardia. If the heart pumps too slowly, blood does not circulate fast enough to give your tissues and organs the needed oxygen and nutrients.
Weak Heart Muscle
Heart muscle is typically very strong. If the muscle becomes damaged from a heart attack or lack of oxygen to an area of the muscle, it becomes weak. This is heart failure. This prevents the heart from contracting hard enough to push blood out into your circulatory system, or to pump blood through the lungs to pick up oxygen.
Heart Health
There are many diseases and conditions that affect the way your heart works. Each one can cause different symptoms, but they all alter the way your heart works. Once your heart is damaged, all of your body tissues and organs suffer the consequences. Lack of oxygen and nutrients to body tissues causes them to start deteriorating. Lack of circulation to the brain alters your level of consciousness. It is important to keep your heart healthy and strong to keep your brain and body healthy.
