BIO 310

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN BIOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

BY
NATASSHA BT JAMIL
2008218888
ASD5TB

LECTURER
MISS SARINA BT MOHAMAD
QUESTION 1

WHAT IS MEAN BY CARDIAC OUTPUT AND HOW IT OCCURED?

Cardiac output is the volume of blood pumped by the left ventricle of heart per
minute. Cardiac output also known as the product of heart rate and stroke volume. Heart
rate is the number of heart beats per minute while, stroke volume is the volume of blood
pumped out of the heart for each beat. Cardiac output was affect by some factors.

Heart rate is one of the factors that affect cardiac output. Heart rate is directly
proportional to cardiac output. Heart rate is controlled by the rate of impulse generate by
the sino-atrial node. An increase in temperature or metabolic activity or stress will increase
heart rate. The heart rate affects the cardiac output by affecting the length of diastole and
diastolic volume. Apart from that, heart rate also affects the rate of heart contraction. For
example, when the heart rate is at high, the time for the ventricular filling is too short, thus
cardiac output will decreases, the same also happen when the heart rate is at low, the
ventricular filling is prolonged and cardiac output is decreases again.

Stroke volume is the second factors that affect the cardiac output. Stroke volume is
affect by three factor which is preload, afterload and contractility. Preload is dealing with the
filling of the heart with blood during diastole. This filling increases the stretch of cardiac muscle
fibres, so that during systole the force of contraction of the cardiac muscle increases and thus
stroke volume increase. However, if the filling is decreases, the stroke volume decreases and
stroke volume decrease. In other hand, afterload is the force which the heart must pump
against in ejecting blood from the heart. For the ventricle the afterload is the aortic pressure.
Changing the pressure in the aorta affects the cardiac performance when the left ventricular
emptying. Thus when aortic pressure increases, then stroke volume decreases. Contractility is
the force that the muscle can create at the given time. Contractility can be increased or
decreased. A ventricular contraction, producing an increase in systolic pressures in the ventricle
and thus cardiac output is increased. For example, an increase in excitatory discharge via
sympathetic nerves from the brain will increase heart rate and contractility. However, a
negative inotropic effect will decrease contractility and thus reduce cardiac output.
QUESTION 2

EXPLAIN ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT LEAD TO THE HEART BEAT?

Heart is made up of cardiac muscle which is myogenic. Myogenic means that it

naturally contracts and relaxed without triggered by any impulse from nervous system. The
cardiac cycle is initiated by a small patch of muscle called the Sinoatrial node (SAN) or
pacemaker. This node sets the rhythm for all the other cardiac muscle. Pacemaker cells have
an inbuilt rhythm that is faster than the other cells in the heart. The SA node sends out an
excitation wave to the atrial walls. The cardiac muscle responds to this wave by contracting
at the same speed as the SAN. As the results, atria contracting simultaneously. However,
there is a delay between atrial contraction and ventricular contraction. The delay is caused
by of the fiber between the two chambers do not conduct the excitation phase. Therefore,
the wave is conducted through a patch of fibres in the septum known as the atrio-ventricular
node or AVN. The delay is just about 0.1 seconds and after that the AV node passes the wave
onto another set of conducting fibres that run down the centre of the septum between the
ventricles called the Purkyne fibres. The wave is then transmitted rapidly down to the
bottom of the septum, where it spreads through the ventricles’ walls in an upward direction.
This movement causes the muscle to contract and the ventricles squeeze the blood out of
the heart.