Composed with Epsilon Notes in Android

Circulatory System
The mammal circulatory system consists of the heart, blood and the blood vessels. There are
different types of blood vessels, each type with its own functions, for example, arteries carry
blood from the heart to the rest of the body and veins return blood from the body organs back to
the heart.

Arteries carry blood from the heart to other body organs and as the blood enters an organ, the
arteries branch into smaller vessels called arterioles, which then supply the capillaries.

The capillaries allow the exchange of materials such as oxygen and glucose, carbon dioxide and
other wastes with the body cells.

As the blood leave an organ, the capillaries supply the blood to the venules with then combine to
form larger vessels called veins.

Heart
The heart pumps blood to all the major organs of the body. It consists of four chambers, two thin-
walled atria (singular atrium) at the top and two thick-walled ventricles below.

Structure of the heart

The left ventricle muscles are thicker than those of the right ventricle in order to develop enough
pressure to pump blood to the rest of the body.

The atria are connected to the ventricles by valves (biscupid valve on the left and triscupid valve
on the right). These valves prevent backflow of the blood.

The two sides of the heart are separated by a wall of muscled called a septum to prevent the
mixing of oxygenated blood on the left side and deoxygenated blood on the right side.

Blood circulation
The vena cava carries deoxygenated blood from the body into the right atrium. The blood passes
from right atrium to the right ventricle, and the right ventricle pumps it out into the pulmonary
artery. The pulmonary artery carries the deoxygenated blood to the lungs.

The blood is oxygenated in the lungs and carried back to the heart through the pulmonary vein.
The pulmonary vein passes the blood into the left atrium. The blood passes from left atrium to
the left ventricle, and the left ventricle then pumps it out into the aorta, this time to the rest of the
body.
This way, the blood is pumped twice (first to the lungs, then to the body) before returning back to
circulation. This is the reason why the heart is called a double action pump. The advantage of
double action is the building up of pressure before the blood is pumped a long distance.

Blood vessels

Arteries

Arteries are wide vessels which carry blood from the heart to the organs of the body. Except for
the pulmonary arteries, all arteries carry oxygenated blood.

Arteries have the following properties:

carry blood from the heart

 have a narrow lumen
thicker walls to withstand the high blood pressure
elastic walls to increase blood capacity when necessary
no valves because backflow is prevented by blood pressure

Veins

Veins return blood from body organs to the heart. The blood pressure in veins is steady and is
less than that in the arteries.

Veins have the following properties:

are wider but their walls are thinner, less elastic and less muscular than those of the arteries
because they carry blood at low pressure
have valves to prevent backflow of the blood
have a wider lumen
carry blood to the heart

Capillaries

Capillaries are tiny vessels with walls only one cell thick. They are permeable which means they
allow certain substances to pass through their walls. No living cell in the body is far from a
capillary supplying oxygen and food.

Blood

Blood consists of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets all floating in a liquid called
plasma.

Red blood cells

Red blood cells are disc shaped and have no nuclei. They contain a red pigment called
haemoglobin, a protein combined with iron. Haemoglobin absorbs oxygen to form
oxyhaemoglobin. Oxyhaemoglobin carries oxygen only to release it in places where the oxygen
concentration is low. This is how red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues.

White blood cells

White blood cells have different shapes and sizes but all have a nucleus. They produce antibodies
and also help in fighting infections by engulfing pathogens.

Platelets

Platelets are pieces of special blood cells that help to clot the blood at wounds and so help to
stop the bleeding and also to close the wound against infection.

Plasma

Plasma is the liquid part of the blood. It is mainly water with a large number of substances
dissolved in it, such as salts, amino acids, glucose, lipids (fats), carbon dioxide, urea and
hormones.

The table below shows the role of transport by the blood system

Substance From To

oxygen lungs body organs

 Substance From To

carbon dioxide body organs lungs

urea liver kidneys

hormones glands target organs

digested food intestine whole body

heat abdomen and muscles whole body

By Sydney Chako downloaded from https://sytech.co.zw