Cardiovascular System Facts

The cardiovascular system is an important part of the body which consists of three components: the heart, blood vessels (capillaries, veins and arteries) and blood. The cardiovascular system transports oxygen to different parts of the body, and thereby provides nourishment to the various body parts.

Facts about Cardiovascular System
The content presented in this article deals with facts about cardiovascular system. These facts are subdivided into three parts: the facts about heart, blood vessels and blood.

Heart: The heart is similar to an automatic pump which distributes blood to the different parts of body.

• Average weight of the heart in males and females is 300 - 350 g and 250 - 300 g respectively. Size of the heart is equal to that of the fist of human hand.
• The human heart is covered by a layer called pericardium, which is actually a double-walled sac.
• The heart is composed of three layers: the endocardium (innermost layer), myocardium (middle layer), and the visceral layer (uppermost layer).
• Heart is divided into 4 chambers; these are the ventricles (2 each) and atria (2 each). Out of the above mentioned chambers, ventricles discharge the blood while atria receives it from different parts of the body, that flows through veins.

Blood Vessels: The blood vessels carry blood towards and away from the heart.

• There are 3 types of blood vessels: the arteries, veins and capillaries. Arteries perform the work of taking blood away from the heart while the veins transport it towards the heart. Capillaries are responsible for the exchange of chemicals and water that takes place between tissues and blood.
• Aorta is the largest artery which carries blood away from the heart. This artery is subdivided in the following branches: subclavian artery, carotid artery, mesenteric arteries, celiac trunk, iliac artery and renal artery.

Blood: The blood carries oxygen and nutritive elements towards the body cells. Here are a some of the facts regarding blood, which plays an important role in the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

• Blood is composed of blood cells and these cells are suspended in a liquid known as blood plasma.
• Out of the total weight of the human body, 7% is that of blood.
• An average of 5 liters of blood is present in the body of an adult human being.
• The blood cells are of two types: white blood cells (WBCs) and red blood cells (RBCs). The platelets and leukocytes are the other components present in blood apart from the RBCs and WBCs.
• Hemoglobin, a protein with iron as its main component is the forms the RBCs and enables them in the transportation of oxygen.
• Blood is actually a specialized form of connective tissues and is produced inside the bones.

Interesting Cardiovascular System Facts

• The heart, which is an important component of the cardiovascular system, beats 72 times in a single minute, and thus produces approximately 2.5 billion beats in the lifetime of a person.
• Out of the total volume of blood plasma, 92% is water and only 8% is that of the plasma proteins.
• The total length of all the blood vessels in the human body is approximately 60,000 miles. This length of the blood vessels is equivalent to twice the circumference of the earth.

The cardiovascular system information provided in this article is mainly about the structure and components of the cardiovascular system. Along with the basic information, some interesting cardiovascular system facts are also incorporated in the content. Thus, important facts about the cardiovascular system are covered.