Professional Documents
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Prentice Hall
Cardiovascular System: Blood vessels transport blood, which carries oxygen, carbon dioxide,
nutrients, wastes, etc. The heart pumps blood.
Heart: A hollow, muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the body.
Atrium: A heart chamber that receives blood.
Pacemaker: A device that delivers electrical impulses to the heart to regulate the heartbeat.
Ventricle: Bottom portion of the heart, thicker walled and larger.
Valve: A flap of tissue in the heart or a vein that prevents blood from flowing backward.
Artery: A blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart
Capillary: A tiny blood vessel where substances are exchanged between the blood and the body
cells.
Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart.
Aorta: Largest artery in the body
Coronary Artery: Arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become clogged and blocked
with deposits of fatty material and cholesterol (plaque).
Pulse: alternate expansion and recoil of elastic artery after each systole of the left ventricle.
Diffusion: Movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower
concentration.
Blood Pressure: Pressure exerted by the blood upon the walls of the blood vessels, especially
arteries, usually measured by means of a sphygmomanometer and expressed in millimeters of
mercury.
Plasma: Fluid portion of blood.
Platelet: A very small blood cell derived from the fragmented cytoplasm of megakaryocytes in
the bone marrow. Platelets participate in coagulation, wound healing, and inflammation.
Red Blood Cell: Blood cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to the body cells.
Lymphatic System: Composed of a network of vessels, ducts, nodes, and organs. Provides
defense against infection.
Hemoglobin: An iron-containing protein in red blood cells that reversibly binds oxygen.
Lymph: Consists of water and dissolved materials such as glucose and contains some white blood
cells that have left the capillaries.
White blood Cell: Blood cells that perform the function of destroying disease-causing
microorganisms
Lymph Node: Structure that filters and destroys pathogens.
The cardiovascular system carries needed substances to cells and carries waste products away
from cells. In addition, blood contains cells that fight disease.
The heart pushes blood through the cardiovascular system. The right side of the heart is
separated from the left side by the septum. Each side has an upper chamber and a lower
chamber.
Blood circulates in two loops. First, it travels from the heart to the lungs and then back to the
hearth. Second, it is pumped from the heart to the body and then it returns to the heart.
Blood leaves the heart through arteries. When it reaches the capillaries, materials are exchanged
between the blood and the body`s cells. Veins carry blood back to the heart. The walls of arteries
and veins consist of three layers with muscle in the middle layer. Capillary walls are only one cell
thick.
After blood moves through capillaries, it enters large blood vessels called veins which carry blood
back to the heart.
Urea: A waste product of protein breakdown, produced by the liver and released into the
bloodstream to be eliminated by the kidney.
Kidney: Filters waste from the blood like urea, water, salt and proteins.
Urine: Fluid wastes removed from the body by the kidneys.
Ureter: Carry urine to the urinary bladder.
Urinary Bladder: A membranous sac for temporary retention of urine.
Urethra: Duct through which urine is discharged.
Nephron: Filters the blood while in the kidney.