Tracing the Human Circulatory System
Blood has an important role to play oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and various other important components to maintain your health. The circulation of blood in the body is regulated by a system called the cardiovascular system — you may be more familiar with the circulatory system. Are you curious about how the human circulatory system works?
What are the main components of the circulatory system in humans?
The human circulatory system has three important components, each of which is interrelated. These three components regulate the transport and return of blood to and from the rest of the body.
The following are the three main components of the human blood circulation system:
1. Heart
The heart is the most vital organ in the human circulatory system whose function is to pump and receive blood throughout the body.
The location of the heart is between the lungs. Precisely in the middle of the chest, on the back of the left breastbone. The size of the heart is slightly larger than your fist, which is about 200-425 grams. Your heart consists of four chambers, namely the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles.
The heart has four valves that separate the four chambers.Heart valve serves to keep blood flowing in the right direction. These valves include the tricuspid, mitral, pulmonary, and aortic valves. Each valve has a flaps, which is called leaflet or cusp, which opens and closes once every time your heart beats.
2. Blood vessels
Blood vessels are elastic tubes that form part of the human circulatory system. Blood vessels function to carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body or vice versa.
There are three main blood vessels in the heart, namely:
- Artery, carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to other parts of the body. Arteries have walls that are elastic enough to keep blood pressure consistent.
- Veins, carries oxygen-poor (full of carbon dioxide) blood from the rest of the body back to the heart. Compared to arteries, veins have thinner vessel walls.
- Capillary, in charge of connecting the smallest arteries with the smallest veins. The walls are so thin that they allow blood vessels to exchange compounds with the surrounding tissue, such as carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, waste, and nutrients.
3. Blood
The next major component of the human circulatory system is blood. The average human body contains about 4-5 liters of blood.
Blood functions to transport nutrients, oxygen, hormones, and various other substances from and throughout the body. Without blood, oxygen and food extracts (nutrients) it will be difficult to reach all parts of the body.
Summarized from the American Red Cross website, blood consists of several components, namely:
- Blood plasma which is in charge of transporting blood cells to be circulated throughout the body along with nutrients, body waste products, antibodies, blood clotting proteins, and chemicals, such as hormones and proteins.
- Red blood cells (erythrocytes) which is in charge of carrying oxygen from the lungs to be circulated throughout the body.
- White blood cells (leukocytes) which are responsible for fighting viral, bacterial, and fungal infections that trigger disease progression.
- Platelets (platelets) which has an important role in the blood clotting process (coagulation) when the body is injured.
How is the mechanism of the human circulatory system?
In general, the human circulatory system is divided into two, namely the large (systemic) circulatory system and the small (pulmonary) circulatory system. Here’s the full review.
Systemic circulation
Large or systemic blood circulation begins when oxygen-containing blood is pumped from the left ventricle of the heart to the rest of the body until it returns to the right atrium of the heart.
In simple terms, the large blood circulation (systemic) can be described as the flow of blood from heart – whole body – heart.
Pulmonary circulation
Pulmonary circulation is more commonly referred to as small blood circulation. This blood circulation begins when blood containing CO2, aka carbon dioxide, is pumped from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs.
In the lungs, there is a gas exchange that converts carbon dioxide into oxygen as it leaves the lungs and returns to the heart (left atrium).
In simple terms, the small (pulmonary) circulatory system is the circulation of blood from heart – lungs – heart.
What are the diseases that can interfere with the human circulatory system?
The circulatory system is vital for human life. Any abnormalities in the circulatory system can have an impact on the body’s overall function.
Yes, organs can be damaged and cause serious diseases.
Some of the most common diseases that can interfere with the circulatory system in humans include:
- Hypertension which causes the heart to work harder to pump blood.
- Aortic aneurysm, that is, swelling in the wall of the aorta.
- Atherosclerosis, namely narrowing or hardening of the arteries due to a buildup of fat, cholesterol, and other waste products in the artery walls.
- Heart disease, includes arrhythmias, coronary arteries, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, heart attacks, and so on.
- Varicose veins caused by blood that should be flowing to the heart, instead returning to the legs.
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