Caffeine is a chemical found in several different foods products. You may ingest it in coffee, energy drinks, chocolate, over-the-counter drugs, frozen desserts, soft drinks or tea. Caffeine has several different effects on the body, including...
Each day you need to consume some vitamin K in the foods that you eat. This amount is called AI, or adequate intake, and it ensures that your body is able to build healthy tissues and complete the other functions that depend on vitamin K. Vitamin...
Vitamin B-12 is good for you because your body uses it for energy production, blood physiology and in the function of your nerves. Without B-12, your body would not work properly and you could develop symptoms and health problems. Each day you...
Heart failure is the inability of your heart to pump enough blood to meet the needs of your body to function normally. One of the tests performed to determine if the amount of blood pumped per minute is adequate is defined as cardiac output....
According to a September 2006 article in "The Lancet," childbirth-related hemorrhage -- uncontrolled or abnormal bleeding -- is responsible for about 126,960 of the 529,000 mothers' lives lost globally to pregnancy-related causes every year,...
One way in which the kidneys maintain blood pressure is through the regulation of the volume of blood in the body. As the American Heart Association explains, one of the major roles of the kidneys is maintaining the proper levels of electrolytes...
The blood vessels of the body are classified into tree types, all three of these types of vessels have similar physiology, each being a variation on the same basic structure. The basic physiology of blood vessels consists of three layers of...
Although vitamin K often describes a single vitamin, the term vitamin K actually encompasses three forms of the fat-soluble vitamin: phylloquinones, menaquinones and menadione. Vitamin K has a primary role in ensuring normal blood clotting....
As the Franklin Institute explains, the arteries are designed to carry blood away from the heart. Almost all arteries (with the exception of the pulmonary artery, which carries blood to the lungs) are filled with oxygenated blood. Arteries have to...
Autoregulation of the blood pressure refers to increasing and decreasing the blood pressure to meet the needs of the body without voluntary intervention or awareness. If the blood pressure needs to rise or fall, it does so on its own without...
Clotting is a critical function of blood--without the ability to clot, any small injury would quickly lead to catastrophic loss of blood volume, and death. Instead, under normal conditions, injured blood vessels have the ability to send cellular...
Endurance exercise, such as jogging, swimming and cycling, increases your blood volume over time. Blood-volume adaptations begin after a single bout of exercise and amplify within weeks of training. Enhanced blood volume enhances your exercise...
You should learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, through a licensed organization, such as the American Heart Association. It can be performed if a person's heart and breathing stop; the goal is to restart the heart or to keep the body alive...
Adequate levels of vitamin D are essential for your health. However, as with many vitamins, an excess of vitamin D can be deleterious. Some of the symptoms of a vitamin D overdose can cause your blood pressure to drop. Talk to your doctor before...
Unlike overdoses of many substances, sugar "overdoses" don't lead to toxicity reactions--though in extreme cases, they can cause dehydration, which has its own set of side effects. Instead, a sugar overdose leads to two separate problems: high...
Blood vessels deliver blood from the heart to the tissues, and return oxygen-depleted blood to the heart. The vascular system is made up of three vessel types. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, veins return blood to the heart, and the tiny...
Blood pressure is measured as two numbers: the systolic pressure over the diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure is the pressure achieved when the heart is contracting, and diastolic pressure is measured when the heart is relaxing. Changes in blood...
The simplest way to get a picture of how a heart is functioning is through a blood pressure reading. Blood pressure is a measurement of force that the blood exerts against a vessel wall. It is recorded as systolic pressure over diastolic pressure....
Hemoglobin is a special protein found in red blood cells. It has a structure that supports several functions, including carrying and delivering oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. The metabolism of hemoglobin includes its construction in the...
There are trillions of cells in your body that create and use energy to sustain your life. The physical and chemical processes that provide your body with energy are what make up your body's metabolism. To create energy, your body must have an...
Sodium is a charged mineral, called an electrolyte. It carries a positive charge and is dissolved in the water of the body. Most of the body is made up of water. Sodium has several important roles, including helping to establish fluid balance,...
Glucose, or blood sugar, is the body's main source of energy. The pancreas is an organ which contains tiny clusters of tissues called islets of Langerhans. The cells found on the islets produce hormones that regulate the blood sugar levels in the...
There are a variety of physiological reasons why more blood travels to your muscles during exercise, which allows you to exercise at optimal levels. The increase is caused by a natural response in your body that shuttles blood from other areas of...
Coagulation, also referred to as blood clotting, is a process during which several components of your blood come together to prevent excessive bleeding when a blood vessel is damaged. Several different proteins in your blood, called coagulation...
Proline, or L-proline, is an amino acid that can be synthesized by your body by the breakdown of another amino acid, L-glutamate. If you obtain adequate amounts of protein in your diet, your body will have enough amino acids to produce all the...
Each time your heart beats, it delivers oxygen-carrying blood throughout your body. Physical activity increases the demand for oxygen, and the heart responds by producing a greater volume of blood. Exercise, particularly aerobic exercise,...
The blood vessels consist of three major subcategories. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, and are generally the thickest and most muscular of the vessels. Veins carry blood back to the heart, and are relatively thin-walled. Capillaries...
The cardiovascular system consists of the heart, the blood vessels and blood. The main purpose of the system is to carry oxygen and nutrients to the body and carry away byproducts of metabolism. The heart serves as a pump to drive the flow of...
Blood pressure is a good indicator of cardiovascular health. The top number, or systolic blood pressure, represents the force on the arteries when the heart beats. The bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure, represents the force on the...
Learn how to treat spleen disorders with acupuncture in this free chinese medicine video lesson from our alternative cure expert.
