Explain how the direction of blood flow in the heart is controlled
- Valves open/close due to blood pressure differences - Valves prevent back flow - Atrioventricular valves between ventricle and atria - Semilunar valves between arteries and ventricles
Description of double circulation and its advantages
- Double circulation refers to pulmonary circulation and systemic circulation - Heart has separate pumps for lungs and other systems - Deoxygenated blood pumped to the lungs and oxygenated to other organs - Each side of the heart has an atrium and ventricle - Left ventricle pumps blood to the system and right ventricles pumps blood to the lungs - Left atrium receives blood from the lungs and right atrium receives blood from system - Left ventricle pumps blood via the aorta and right ventricle pumps blood via the pulmonary artery - Left atrium receives blood via the pulmonary vein and right atrium receives blood via the vena cava - Lungs require lower pressure blood - High pressure required to pump blood to all systems - Blood has to be pumped again after returning from lungs - All tissues receive blood with high oxygen concentration
Outline the mechanisms involved in the control of heartbeat
- Myogenic contraction without stimulus from a nerve - Sa node initiates each heart beat and stimulates atria to contract - Nerves carry impulse from the brain to speed up and slow down the heart - Medulla monitors blood pressure - Adrenaline increases rate/strength of contractions - Acetylcholine reduces the pace - Hormones carried to heart through blood
Outline two ways the body uses to increase heart rate
- Impulses from the medulla carried by a nerve - Adrenaline Structure and function of arteries, capillaries and veins Arteries carry blood leaving heart - Thick wall to withstand high pressure - Elastic fibres give ability to stretch and recoil to pump blood after each heart beat - Contraction of smooth muscle layer to generate pulse for maintaining pressure - Narrow lumen to maintain high pressure - Smooth endothelium ensures efficient transport - No values as pressure is high enough to prevent back flow Veins return blood to the heart - thinner walls to allow skeletal muscles to exert pressure on veins to move blood - Larger lumen to allow great volume of blood to pass and decrease resistance to flow - Thin muscular layers with few elastic fibres because blood pressure is low - Contains valves to prevent back flow of blood Capillaries allow exchange of nutrients and CO2 from tissue - Thin wall to allow rapid diffusion - Have pores between cells of the wall, so that tissue fluid and phagocytes can leave - Narrow lumen to fit into small places and increase oxygen diffusion from RBC - Extensive branding to increase surface areas to volume ratio for exchange of material
Health problems with the blood transport system
- Name: Coronary heart disease - Cause: Coronary arteries are hardened and narrowed - Symptom: Blood flow to heart is restricted - Treatment: Coronary bypass operation
Outline how William Harvey changed the understanding of blood flow
around the human body - Discovered the circulation of blood - Showed that valves in the veins ensure one-way flow of blood - Showed that blood was not consumed by the body - Predicted the existence of capillaries - Showed that the theories of Galen were false