Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Definisi
The heart is a muscular organ about the size of a fist,
located just behind and slightly left of the breastbone. The
heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and
veins called the cardiovascular system.
Some types of heart disease, such as those that are present from birth, cannot be prevented.
Eat a balanced diet. Stick to low-fat, high-fiber foods and be sure to consume five portions of
fresh fruit and vegetables each day. Increase your intake of whole grains and reduce the amount
of salt and sugar in the diet. Make sure the fats in the diet are mostly unsaturated.
Exercise regularly. This will strengthen the heart and circulatory system, reduce cholesterol, and
maintain blood pressure.
Maintain a healthy body weight for your height. Click here to calculate your current and target
body mass index (BMI).
If you smoke, quit. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart and cardiovascular conditions.
Reduce the intake of alcohol. Do not drink more than 14 units per week.
Control conditions that affect heart health as a complication, such as high blood pressure or
diabetes.
Mitral valve
Tricuspid valve
Aortic valve
The electrical signal begins at the sino-atrial (or sinus, SA) node — the heart's
pacemaker, positioned at the top of the right atrium. This signal causes the
atria to contract, pushing blood down into the ventricles.
The electrical impulse travels to an area of cells at the bottom of the right
atrium called the atrioventricular (AV) node. These cells act as a gate; they
slow the signal down so that the atria and ventricles do not contract at the
same time — there needs to be a slight delay.
From here, the signal is carried along special fibers called Purkinje fibers
within the ventricle walls; they pass the impulse to the heart muscle, causing
the ventricles to contract
6. Blood vessels
There are three types of blood vessels:
Arteries: carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
Arteries are strong and stretchy, which helps push blood through the
circulatory system. Their elastic walls help keep blood pressure consistent.
Arteries branch into smaller arterioles.
Veins: these carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart and increase in size
as they get closer to the heart. Veins have thinner walls than arteries.
Capillaries: they connect the smallest arteries to the smallest veins. They
have very thin walls, which allow them to exchange compounds with
surrounding tissues, such as carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, waste, and
nutrients.
7.