KideHeatth.org The most-vsited ste amy devotes to children's from Nemours health and development Your Heart & Circulatory System We see and near about hearts everyamere. Along time ago, pple een thought that their emtlns came from ther hears, maybe because the heartbeats fertr when a person ls ecored or exted, Now we know that emallons come fram the bran, and inthis case, the Bal tls the hear to speed up. So what's the hen up to, then? How dees keep busy? What does i oak? Lats find Su ‘The Heart Is a Muscle ‘Your Nears really @ muscle t's located a Ile tothe lt of the mide of your chest and it's about the sizeof your fit. There are lots of| ‘muscles al over your Body ~ In your arms In your leg, in your Bac, even in Your behind But the heart musce ls special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your bay. The blood provides your body withthe oxygen ‘nd utente needs, Talo caries 2 waste ‘Your hear is sort of ke @ pur, oc two pumps inane, The right side of your heart recelves bloc from the body and pumps it tothe lungs. The Jet sde of the neart does the exact oppaite: It caves blood fram the lungs and pumps It ut to the Body How the Heart Beats Hom does the heart beat? Before each best, your heart fis with blood, Then is muscle contracts to squirt the blood along, When the heart ntact, squeezes — ty squeeang your hand into aft. That's sort of lke wat your heare Goes so can squirt out the blood, Your heart does this al dy and sl might, alte me. The heart one hard worker! Parts of the Heart ‘Tne near is mace up c four diferantblood-iled sre, anc each of these aeas Is calles chamber. There are two chambers on each side ofthe heart: One enamber is‘ the top and one chamber Ison the Bator. The to enambers on top are calles the atria (say: AY-tree-uh). If you're {aiking only abot one, cl an atrunn, The ats are te chambers tha filwith the bloog returning tothe hear from the body and lungs. The Ferthas 3 lef trim ana ight tiom. The two chambers onthe bottom are called the ventricle (Soy: VEN-ih-kla). The heart has 8 let vente and 2 ight ventricle. Tel Job Isto squire out the bload to the boay ad lungs. unning down the midal of te Neat Is 9 thick wall of muscle calle the septum (sby: SEP-tm). THe Septum’ jb isto separate the eft side a the right sce of the heer ‘The otis and ventricles work a a teom — the ati il with load, then dump i into the vensces. The ventricles then squeeze, pumping blood ‘ut ofthe neat. Wl the ventres ae squeezing, the atria refl and get raady for the next contraction. So when the blood gets pumped, how does t know which wey to go? Wel, your blood relies on four special valves inside the heart. A valve lets something n and keeps it thee by closing — think of walking through 3 oor The oor shuts Benin you and keeps you fram going backward “wo of the hear volves are the mitral (soy: MY-tl) valve and the tleuspld (sey: try-KUS-pid) valve. Thy let blood fon from the ata to the Ventsieles. The other two re called tne aortic (s2y:ay-OR-k) valve and pulmonary (say: Pul-muh-ner-ee) valve, snd they rein charge of onroling the flow as te bload leaves the her. These valves oll werk to keep the blo flowing forward. They apen upto let he blood move head, then they lose quchy to keep the bleed fam lowing backward How Blood Circulates ‘You probably guessed thatthe bod jst doesn’ slosh around your body once it eaves the heat moves through many tubes called arteries ‘nd vein, which together are ealed blood vaasele. These blood vesele are attached ta the heart. The blood vessels that cary blood away rom the heart are clled arteries. The ones thet carry blood back to he heat are ales ves “Tre movement ofthe blood through the heat and acound the body sealed ereulation (58); surkyoo-LAY-shun), and your hear Is really good tit It takes less than 60 seconds to pump blood ta avery alin your body. Your body needs this steady supply of blood to keep It working right. Blood delivers oxygen to all the body's calls. To stay alive, 2 person newds heathy, ving ees. Without oxygen, these cells would dle. I that oxygen-rich blood does route as it should, a person coud le “The left side of your hear sends that oxygen-rich bless out to the body. The body takes the oxygen out ofthe blood and uses itn your body's Cale, When the cals use the oxygen, ty make carbon elacde ano thar atl that gets eariag way bythe blood, I like the blood delivers ‘ne to the ells ond tren hat to pe up the trash!‘The returning blood enters the right side of the heer. The right ventricle pumps te bod to the lungs for 8 ite freshening up. Inthe tngs, carbon dloxide is removed from the blood and sant out ofthe Body nen we exhale, What's ext? nile, ofcourse, anda fresh beth of ‘oxygen that ean enter Ue Blood to star the process again, nd remember, eal happens In sbout a minute! Listen to the Lub-Dub \When you go fora checkup, your doctor uses a stethoscope to sten carefull to your hear. A healthy heart makes a Iub-dub sound with each beat. This sound comes fram the valves shutting an the Blood inside the hea. “The frst sound (the Mb) happens when the mia ond teuspid valves close. The next saune (Che dub) happens when the aorte snd pulmonary Valves close after the blood nes been squeezed out ofthe hear, Next ine you go tothe doctor, sek f you ean Iaten tothe lub, soo, Pretty Cool — It's My Pulse! Eventhough your heart i Insice you, there i 2 coal way to knaw i's working frm the outsde t's your pulse, You cen find your pulse by ht pressing onthe skin anywhere there's arg artery running Just beneath your skn, Two goad places to fing It are onthe se of your neck and the Insc of your wrist, jst below the thumb. ‘You! know that you've ound your pulse when you can fee a small eat under your skin. Each eat Is caused by the contraction (squeezing) of {your heart, Ifyou want to fin out what your heer rae use a wateh witha secone hand an eau how many Beats you fee Yn minute When {You are resting, you wil probably fool batween 70 and 100 beats per mate. ‘when you runaround alt, your body needs a let more cxygan-filed blood. Your heart pumps faster to supply the oxygen-filed blood that your body needs. You may even feel your heart pounding in your chest Try ening in place o uring rope fra ew minutes and taking Your pus ‘again now ow many beats o you count int minute? Keep Your Heart Happy Most Ras are born wth heathy heert and e's important to Keep Yours in good shape, Here are some things thet you can do to help keep your hearehapy: + Remember that your hear is 2 muscle. if you want Ito be strong, you need to exercise It. How do you do it? By belag active Ina way that ‘et you huting and puting, ike jumping rope, dancing, or playing basketbel Try to be setve every Soy for atleast 30 minutes! An hour ‘ould be even beter for yur heart! + Eat a variety of heathy foods and avo foods high In unhealthy fts, such 9s saturated ats and trans fts (reading food labels can help you figure out your favorite snack contin hese unheakny ngrelent). + Try to eat atleast five servings of fats and vegetables cach day. + Avoid sugary sft drinks and fut rinks, ‘+ Don't smoke, ft ean damage the heart and blood vessels, ‘Your heart deserves tobe loved forall the Work it does. It stated pumplag blood before you were hon and wil continue pumping throughout your whole te Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MO Date reviewed: May 2038