Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular System Outline

Components

Heart Hollow muscular organ providing the force for flow of blood thoroughout human body Blood Vessels    Pathways of blood flow in human body, hollow tubes, of 3 types Arteries Carry blood away from heart to other body parts,  very muscular and elastic Capillaries   Microscopic blood vessels where exchange of nutrients  with tissues take place Veins Carry blood towards the heart from other body parts,  their walls are thinner as compared to corresponding  arteries. Blood Special type of body tissue that is in fluid form, consists of the  following components; Plasma Blood cells White Blood Cells Red Blood Cells Platelets

Functions

Provide nutrients to body parts, Remove excretory Products from body parts, Protects body against infection, Distribution of heat.

Introduction to Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular system means the system of heart and blood vessels of human body. The term “cardiovascular” is a combination of two word; “Cardio” and “vascular”. The term “cardio” is derived from “cardiac” meaning Heart and the term “vascular” means blood vessels. So the name itself indicates that cardiovascular systems is the system of heart and blood vessels. Cardiovascular system is also known as “Circulatory System”.

Cardiovascular System

Components of Cardiovascular System 

Cardiovascular system is made up of three major components; Heart, Blood vessels and blood.
HEART:Heart is a hollow muscular organ made of strong cardiac muscles. Heart can push the blood through the circulatory system with great force. In fact push of the heart is the major force that causes circulation of blood throughout human body. Heart is made up of three layers; Pericardium, Myocardium and Endocardium. 

Human Heart

BLOOD VESSELS:Human beings have a closed type of circulatory system (visit my blog post: Difference between open and closed circulatory systems) in which blood does not come in direct contact with body tissues. Instead the blood flows in restricted pathways called blood vessels. Materials are exchanged between blood and body tissues through the walls of blood vessels. Thus blood vessels are pathways of blood flow in human body. There are three main types of blood vessels; Arteries, Capillaries and Veins.

BLOOD: Blood is a specialized tissue of body that exists in fluid form. It is one of the five basic types of tissues of human body. (Blog post:Basic tissue types of Human Body). Blood consists of two major portions: Blood cells and Plasma. Plasma is the watery portion of blood that makes it a fluid. 90% of blood plasma is water and remaining 10% are proteins, inclusions and waste products etc. Blood cells are of three main types: Red Blood Cells (RBCs), White Blood Cells (WBCs) and Platelets.

Bleeding Finger 

(SOURCE: "Flickr:Bleed/Wikipedia")

Importance of Cardiovascular System

Perfectly functioning Cardiovascular system is so important for human body, that if it stops for a minute, rapid death will occur. The flow of blood is necessary for existence of life. If the flow of blood is stopped, life will stop. Heart is the main organ of cardiovascular system and it is responsible for distributing blood all over human body. Heart diseases are categorized as the “leading cause of death” in United states. (Reference:CDC.gov). This explains that most people in the united stated die because of heart diseases and elaborates the importance of heart and Cardiovascular system for human body.