Circulatory system

It is a network of tubes, called blood vessels. A pump of the heart keeps blood flowing through
the vessels. Valves in the heart and blood vessels make sure the blood flows in the right
direction.

Oxygenating the blood

The blood in the left-hand side of the heart
has come from the lungs. It is called
oxygenated blood. This oxygenated blood is
then sent around the body. The oxygen is
taken by the body cells and the blood
becomes deoxygenated blood. This blood is
brought back to the right-hand side of the
heart. It then goes to the lungs where it
becomes oxygenated again and the circuit
repeats.

We can think the circulatory system being

divided into two parts. The blood vessels
which carry the blood to the lungs and back
(pulmonary system) and he blood vessels that
carry the blood to the rest of the body
(systematic system).

This image is from a double circulatory

system, all mammals, birds and reptiles have
this kind of circulation system

Single circulation system

Fish have a single circulation system in which the blood passes
through the heart only once on a complete circuit.

We can see that, contrary to the double system, in this circuit

the heart only receives deoxygenated blood

In a double circulation system when the blood reaches the

lungs it loses a lot of pressure that was given by the pump of
the heart, so it is delivered back to the heart which raises the
pressure again.

In a single circulation system, when the blood reaches the gills,

it also looses a lot of pressure, but it just keeps flowing around
the fish’s body in a low-pressure mode.
 The heart
Its function is to pump blood around the body. It is made of a muscle called cardiac muscle,
which contracts and relaxes regularly provoking the pump of the heart.

It is divided into four chambers. The two upper chambers are called atria*. The two lower
chambers are ventricles. Left chambers are separated form the right ones by a septum.
Singular: atrium plural: atria

The heart receives oxygenated blood by the pulmonary vein in the left atrium, which comes
from the lungs. This blood then flows into the ventricle. The ventricle then pumps it out of the
heart into the aorta (artery). From there the aorta transports the oxygenated blood to the
head and the rest of the body.

Ones the cells of the body took the oxygen the blood becomes deoxygenated and comes back
to heart at the right- hand side by the vena cava (veins). Then it repeats by going to the atrium,
then flowing into the ventricle and finally the ventricle pumps it out of the heart into the
pulmonary artery which goes to the lungs and becomes oxygenated blood. And the process
repeats over and over again.
Which type of blood do veins and arteries carry?

Veins: Carry deoxygenated blood. The only exception is the pulmonary vein that carry
oxygenated blood.

Arteries: Carry oxygenated blood. The only exception is the pulmonary artery that carry
deoxygenated blood.

Function of Ventricles and Atria

Atria: receive the blood and supply it to the ventricles

Ventricles: pump blood out of the heart and all around the body, so they have much thicker
muscular walls than atria

Coronary arteries
Blood vessels on the outside of the heart are called coronary arteries.

The muscles of the heart are so thick that the nutrients and oxygen in the
blood inside the heart would not be enough. These muscles need a
constant supply of nutrients and oxygen so that it can keep
contracting and relaxing. This is where the coronary arteries take part in.

If a coronary artery gets blocked the cardiac muscle will run short of
oxygen. Causing them to no being able to respire, so they cannot get
energy to allow them to contract. Therefore, the heart stops beating.
This is called a heart attack or a cardiac arrest.

A blockage of the coronary arteries is called coronary heart disease.

There are several factors that increase the risk of getting coronary heart disease

Cause How it affects How to reduce

Smoking Many components of cigarette
The most obvious thing to do is to stop
cigarette cause damage to the circulatory
smoking
s system
A diet high in salt, saturated fats
Eat a diet containing wide variety of food
or cholesterol increases the
Diet whit not too many fats. Oil plants are really
chances of getting coronary heart
great to prevent CHD
disease.
Keep body weight at suitable level by doing
Being overweight increases the plenty of exercises to maintain coronary
Obesity
risk of getting CHD arteries healthy and low blood pressure
levels.
Find a way to manage stress levels. Doing
Long terms of stress increases risk exercise has a “feel-good” effect by helping
Stress
of developing heart disease to clear your mind of things that worry
you.
Some people have genes that There is really anything for you to do, just
Genes
make it more likely to get CHD. reduce the other factors.
There are some types of prescribed drugs that help to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood and
decrease high blood pressure. But it can have some unpleasant side-effects.
There are some times that even though the patients do all the things to reduce their chances of
getting CHD, they still have a high risk of getting it.

In these occasions a surgery has to be made to correct the problem. A blocked or damaged
artery can be replaced with a length of blood vessel taken from another part of the body. This
is called coronary bypass operation.

Heart Beat
People´s heart beat about 75 to 100 times a minute when they are resting. (BPM)

A way to measure the rate of your heart beat is to take your pulse rate. In hospitals, the activity
of the heart can be recorded as an ECG. This stands for electrocardiograph. Little electrodes
are stuck onto the person’s body, and the electrical activity in the heart is recorded as a graph.

Basal line: Straight line with no electrical activity

P wave: Depolarization

QRS Complex: Contraction of the heart (if it is not shown there might be
problem because your heart is not contracting)

T wave: Repolarization (this is the only part that

could not be shown on the ECG)

Depolarization: refers to the electrical activity that the pacemaker sends to

make the heart muscles contract.

Repolarization: refers to the process in which the electrical charge of the heart muscle cells
returns to its resting state after depolarization

Faster Heart beats

When a person exercises, their heart beats faster. This is due to the muscles using up oxygen
more quickly in respiration, to supply the energy needed for movement. A faster heart rate
means faster delivery of blood to the muscles, providing oxygen.

The rate at which the heart bets is controlled by a patch of muscle called the pacemaker. This
muscle sends electrical signals through the walls of the heart which make the muscle contract.
The pacemaker’s rate changes according to the needs of the body.

When this happens (an increase in respiration), more carbon dioxide is produced, which
dissolves in the blood. This forms an acid, lowering the pH of the blood causing an increase in
the frequency of the nerve’s impulse sent to the pacemaker, making the heart beat faster.

Valves in the heart

Systole: When the walls of the heart contract, it becomes smaller, squeezing the blood out.

Diastole: When the walls of the heart relax, it becomes larger allowing the blood to flow into it.

Between the atrium and ventricle of both sides there is a valve (atrioventricular valve) that
prevents blood from flowing from the ventricle back into the atria
 Blood Vessels
There are three main kinds of vessels: Arteries, Capillaries and
Veins.

Arteries eventually divide again and again and form tiny vessels
call capillaries. These capillaries eventually join up with one
another and form large vessels called veins.

Arteries
When blood flows out of the heart it enters the arteries. This blood
it is at a very high pressure, as it has been forced out of the heart by the
contraction. This action keeps the blood moving forward.

Therefore, they need strong walls. As the blood does not flow
smoothly, they have elastic tissue in their walls which can stretch and
recoil to help them make the flow of blood smoother.

Lumen: It is narrow but can vary as it can stretch and recoil.

Capillaries
They are very small can penetrate to every part of the body. Their
function is to take nutrients, oxygen and other materials to all the cells in
the body as also as taking away the waste materials. Their walls must
be very thin so the substances can get in and out easily, they are only
one cell thick. They do not need strong walls as the blood pressure has
been lost.

Lumen: Very small, it is the exact size of a red blood cell. This has the
advantage of bringing blood into close contact with body tissues.

Veins
The blood flows more slowly and smoothly now, to there is no need
for thick, strong and elastic walls. The blood in the veins is kept
moving thanks to the contraction of the muscles around them.

Lumen: It has a very large lumen to help the blood

moving easily.

They also have valves in them to stop the blood flowing backwards

Naming blood vessels

Each organ of the body is supplied with oxygenated blood from an artery, the deoxygenated
blood is taken away by a vein.

The artery and vein are named according to the organ they are connected to

One example could the vessels of the kidneys, renal arteries and veins.

All the arteries branch from the aorta and all the veins join up to one of the two venae cavae.

The only exception are the pulmonary vein and the pulmonary artery.