Parts and Functions of the Circulatory System

The circulatory system is also known as the body's transport system. It regulates the flow of nutritive
fluids and materials, waste substances, and water in the bodies of living organisms. Its main functions
are to deliver food and oxygen to the cells and to pick up the cells waste materials and carbon dioxide.
Your circulatory system consists of the blood, the blood vessels, and the heart

The Human Blood-Its Parts and Functions

If you happen to cut your finger, red blood will ooze out of the cut. Blood is not red in reality. It is a
clear, pale yellow liquid, almost like water. It circulates throughout your entire body-feeding, supplying,
and even defending the cells or issues that make up your body.
Your blood consists of the liquid part, plasma, and the solid components, blood cells.

Blood Plasma
Plasma is not all liquid. It is 90% fluid. It comprises 50 to 60% of your blood. The clear, yellowish liquid
part is called serum. As your blood reaches the capillaries, part of your blood serum leaks out through
the capillary vessel walls. It is finally collected into tiny
lymph vessels and then flows into larger veins.
The solid materials which form 10% of your plasma are the inorganic minerals and digested food
substances. The inorganic minerals dissolved in water give the plasma a salt content of about 1%
compared to that of seawater which is approximately 3%. This composition explains why blood is a little
salty.
Digested food substances are present in the form of glucose, fatty acids, glycerol, and amino acids which
are transported to the liver and other places for storage.
The plasma transports your blood cells, particularly the red blood cells. It carries food to the cells and
picks up waste materials. This fluid also contains antibodies or substances that
protect your body from infection.

Blood cells
The solid components of the blood are the red blood cells or erythrocytes; white
blood cells, or leucocytes; and platelets, or thrombocytes.
Your red blood corpuscles (RBC) or erythrocytes are very small, round, disc-shaped cells which are
thinned out in the center. They are so tiny that 75 billion of them will fit into a tube of 2.5-cm diameter.
They are elastic; therefore, they can be squeezed out of shape but they can easily go back to their
normal form.
In your study of bones, you learned about the bone marrow. It is here where the red blood cells are
formed. A young red blood cell has a nucleus like any other cell. As it matures, its nucleus disappears.
The mature red blood cell then leaves your bone marrow and passes into your bloodstream where it
serves its main functions.
Each erythrocyte contains more than 200 million molecules of hemoglobin. This protein substance
contains iron and carries oxygen. It also gives the erythrocyte its red color.
The erythrocytes are the special carriers of your blood. They deliver oxygen to your body tissues and
cells. They also pick up the unnecessary wastes and carbon dioxide from your cells. The total surface
area of all your red blood cells is greater than that of a football field. Such an equation explains why its
oxygen-carrying capacity is also great. There are normally between 4.5 and 5.5 million red blood cells
per cubic millimeter of your blood.
Your red blood cells also contain the proteins that determine blood type. There are the antigens and are
found on the cell membranes. An antigen is any molecule that causes the synthesis of an antibody when
the molecule is injected into another organism. It produces agglutination whenever different types of
blood are mixed. The RBC are usually the ones that form clumps.
The white blood cells (WBC) or leucocytes are the wandering cells in your blood. They circulate in the
bloodstream and have nothing to do with the delivery of food and oxygen. Their job is to protect your
body against foreign-invading substances, particularly bacteria. Leucocytes are true cells having their
own nuclei. Sometimes the nuclei are big; sometimes there are more than one. Leucocytes are also
fewer in number than the red cells, about 5,000 to 9,000 per cubic millimeter of blood. They occur in
different varieties under two general groups: the phagocytes and the lymphocytes. The phagocytes
engulf foreign substances, while the lymphocytes produce antibodies to attack your body enemies. Your
blood platelets, or thrombocytes, are the smallest blood cells. Their number ranges from 20,000 to
500,000 per cubic millimeter of blood. Platelets are useful to your body because they contain and
release a substance called thromboplastin, a type of protein needed for blood clotting. Platelets also
help to plug leaks in broken capillary walls. What would happen if your platelet count is too low?

Blood clotting
Have you ever had a cut which bled for a while? Did you notice that your cut formed a dark red scab or
clot that stopped the bleeding? This is called a blood clot.
Blood clotting begins when a blood vessel is injured. Blood comes into contact with the tissue around
the injury. Several substances, such as calcium and protein, combine or unite to trap the red and white
cells and form a mesh. This clot then plugs the leak caused by the wound. It also becomes the
foundation on which the new tissue will be built to heal your wound.

Blood Vessels
The blood flows throughout your body just as buses and cars travel through roads or highways. The
highways are the tubes of muscular tissues which we call blood vessels. Your blood vessels are the
arteries, the capillaries, and the veins.

The Arteries and the Arterial Blood Flow

Your arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart. They extend throughout your
body. The arteries nearest your heart are large. As they get farther from the heart, they branch and
rebranch like a tree. They divide and split into smaller and more numerous arterioles. The structure of
the arteries is similar to roads. Some wide roads branch into smaller roads, which split into streets.
Your large arteries are heavy, strong tubes with elastic muscular walls. Every time your heart beats, your
blood rushes through these large arteries. At this point, blood coming from the ventricles of your heart
is under high pressure. The large arteries, because of their elasticity, expand and absorb a part of this
great pressure. How can you tell that this expansion is happening?
Put your finger on the upper part of your wrist, close to the base of your thumb.
If you hit it right, you will feel a steady beating under the skin. This beating is called the pulse, which is
brought about by the flow of blood that is being pumped through one of your wrist arteries. Every pulse
beat you have is normally also the beat of your heart.
Arteries are stronger than veins. They have thicker walls because the blood that is pumped through
them have much more force and pressure than that pumped through the veins. Arteries are found
deeper within your body.
They have the same elastic, thick layers of wall that make them resistant to injury. However, if an artery
is cut, blood is pumped out through the opening every time the heart beats. If not stopped immediately,
a person may bleed to death in a few minutes.
One way to stop much bleeding is by pressing on the artery between the cut and the heart.

The Capillaries and the Capillary Blood Flow

Your arteries become smaller and form the arterioles. As these arterioles still become smaller and
penetrate your body tissues, they narrow down further to become capillaries. The word capillary is
derived from the Latin word capillus meaning 'hair'.
How small or thin are your capillaries compared to your hair? Capillaries are thin, delicate tubes that are
only one-cell thick. They are so thin that a hair strand is even wider than ten of them placed together
side by side. Furthermore, capillaries are slightly greater in diameter than red blood cells. That is why
only a single file of red blood cells can pass through these vessels.
What is the significant role played by the capillaries? Small molecules dissolved in your blood easily pass
through the membranes of the capillary walls. These substances are mostly dissolved foods, waste
products, and gases. They pass freely through the capillaries and diffuse into adjacent cells.
Also penetrating the tiny openings of your capillary walls are white blood cells.
They leave the bloodstream through the capillaries and enter the tissue spaces in your body. The same is
true with plasma. Capillaries are found in every part of your body. About a million of them may run
through a square centimeter of your muscle tissue. If all the capillaries were joined to form a single tube,
they would stretch thousands of kilometers long.

The Veins and the Venous Blood Flow

The large and thicker-walled blood vessels are called veins. They carry non-oxygenated blood to the
heart.
Why do we see venous blood as blue? Why do you see the veins on your skin surface as blue? You see
blue because in the skin, there is a yellow pigment that changes the appearance of the dark red blood.
Blood in your veins appears to be darker because it has lost oxygen.
Unlike in your arteries, blood moves slower in your veins. Movement is slow because your blood is
under very little pressure. The walls of the veins are more delicate but wider. Inside these vessels are
valves that allow blood to travel only in one direction. If the blood starts to go backwards, the valves
close. The valves are spaced at intervals along the length of the venous tubes. They function in the same
way as the valves in tires, which allow air to be pumped in but prevent air from escaping.
Blood that enters your veins comes from the capillaries with most of its pressure gone. With light and
constant pressure in veins, blood flows smoothly and evenly.

The Human Heart

There is no better substitute for a healthy human heart inside a human body.
Your heart is a muscular pump located between your lungs and above your diaphragm. Your heart is so
powerful that it can pump about 10.000 liters of blood daily. In an hour, a heart can generate enough
power for an elevator to raise a man five floors. Two Hearts could provide enough power to drive a truck
around the world in two years. Your heart works and contracts about 70 times a minute, day after day,
all through the years of your life. In an average person's life, the heart beats more than 2.5 billion times.
It can pump enough blood to fill 2,000 swimming pools. This body machine is simply amazing!
Many heart ailments can be cured now because of technological advancements in medical science.
Artificial heart valves have been developed to replace defective valves. Pacemakers are used to regulate
the heartbeat by stimulating the heart. Heart transplants have been successfully performed to prevent
heart failure. Research is underway to improve mechanical disease and can now be prevented and
treated.

Parts and Functions of the Heart

Your heart is actually made up of two pumps placed side by side-one to your
right and one to your left. The whole muscular organ is surrounded by a protective membrane called
pericardium.
There are four chambers inside your heart. The upper thin-walled chambers are the right and left atria
(sing., atrium). These atria are the collecting chambers of your heart. The right atrium (RA) collects blue
venous deoxygenated blood from your body, while the left atrium (LA) receives red oxygenated blood
from your lungs.
The lower thick-walled chambers are the ventricles. These are the pumping chambers of your heart.
They move blood around your body. The right ventricle (RV) pumps blue venous blood out of your heart
and to the lungs for oxygenation. The left ventricle (LV) pumps oxygenated blood out of your heart to all
parts of the body. Your left ventricle is larger and more muscular than your right ventricle. Can you guess
why? Consider the amount of blood that is to be pushed out of the heart and the effort your heart must
make so as to distribute the blood to all parts of your body.
Blood passing through these four chambers are protected from backflow by valves. These valves do not
actively open or close; they move only in response to pressure from the blood.
Those that actively function in your
heart are the tricuspid valve, between the right atrium and right ventricle; the bicuspid or mitral valve,
between the auricle left and left ventricle; the pulmonary semilunar valve, between the right ventricle
and pulmonary artery; and the aortic semilunar valve, between the left ventricle and the aorta.
A muscular wall or septum divides your heart into its right and left sides. This septum also prevents the
crossing of blood from one side to another. Blood thatpasses the right side of your heart is
deoxygenated (blue venous) while that which passes the left side of your heart
is oxygenated.
The pumping tubes or vessels to and
from your heart consist of large arteries and veins. Deoxygenated or blue venous blood is carried into
the right side of your heart by two large veins or vena cavae. The superior vena cava (SVC) is located at
the upper part of your heart and brings blood from your head and arms. The inferior vena cava (IVC) is
located at the lower part of your heart and brings foood from the lower parts of your body.
The pulmonary artery (PA) carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle of your heart to the
lungs. The pulmonary vein (PV) brings back oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium of your
heart.
The aorta is the largest artery in your heart; it has a number of branches.
The flow of blood in your circulatory system can be traced in the diagram in figure.

Coronary Circulation
How does your heart get its nourishment? Food and oxygen for your heart are supplied by your blood.
The blood that feeds your heart, however, is not the same as the one that passes through the four
chambers. Your heart is fed by blood passing through its own coronary arteries, which are little
branching "trees" with trunks not much larger than soda straws. These arteries also branch out of the
aorta and lead to capillaries that are deeply embedded within the thick muscles of your heart. After
passing through these capillaries, the coronary blood supply moves into coronary veins leading to the
right atrium. The cycle of blood flow is then repeated until blood is completely oxygenated

Pulmonary Circulation
The contraction of the right ventricle of your heart forces the blood into the pulmonary artery. This
venous blood, charged with carbon dioxide, enters your lungs, passing through capillaries. It gives up
carbon dioxide taken from the body cells and receives a fresh supply of oxygen. This arterial blood then
passes through the pulmonary veins in the left chamber of your heart. The circulation therefore involves
the lungs as the oxygen supplies of your blood coming from your body and your heart.

Systemic Circulation
Systemic circulation involves the heart, blood vessels, and all body parts.
Arterial blood is forced from the left atrium to the left ventricle of your heart. The ventricle then
contracts, forcing the blood through the aorta. The blood then passes through the branches, the arteries
whose diameters have gradually diminished. These arteries lead in turn to several arterioles, which
again branch into the capillaries. It is in the capillaries where the exchange of food and gases and the
removal of cell wastes occur. Venous blood then travels from the veins connected to the capillaries to
the two largest veins in the system: the inferior and superior vena cava, which serve as entrances to the
heart.

Renal and Portal circulation

Blood moves in the renal arteries which lead to your kidney. Here, it nourishes the organ and discharges
water, salts, and nitrogenous cell materials. The blood then returns to the heart through the inferior
vena cava.
Portal circulation involves an extensive system of veins that lead from the spleen, stomach, pancreas,
small intestine, and colon. The large veins unite to form the portal vein which enters the liver. Blood
flowing from the digestive organs transports digested food and water. The blood laden with food for the
body tissues flows from the liver in the hepatic beins into the inferior vena cava.

Your Heart and Your Health

You hardly ever think of your heart just because it continuously works 24 hours a day. Although it takes
a slight rest between beats, your heart is really working hard. Early in your life, sometimes even at birth,
fatty deposits begin to build up in the coronary arteries. Gradually, these fats may close the arteries or a
clot may form to suddenly close the arteries.
Arteriosclerosis is a condition where artery walls become less elastic because of cholesterol deposits.
Under such a condition, your heart works harder to pump blood through the artery. This condition may
lead to a heart attack. When your artery shuts down, the portion of the heart muscle that it feeds dies.
This leaves a scarred tissue. What factors may cause such a condition? Heredity may bring about heart
trouble. Overweight may also cause build-up of more cholesterol or fat deposits. Excessive tension,
anxiety, and fatigue can also bring about heart problems.
Smoking constricts arteries, particularly in your hands and feet. A cigarette pushes your heartbeat from
a normal 70 to 80 or more. Nicotine tightens your arteries and produces higher blood pressure. A diet
full of fats can also be disastrous to your heart. When you make a fatty meal, tiny fat globules in your
blood tend to glue red blood cells together in a mass. How then will these blood cells flow through your
capillaries? Relaxation, occasional naps, a good diet, abstinence from smoking, and mild exercise may
help save your heart. Exercise will help keep your blood moving and set free your clogged vessels.