Temario:

Transport in animals Blood vessels.

Human circulatory system. Arteries.
Double, Closed. Veins.
Complete. Capillaries.
The heart structure. Coronary arteries.
Atria. Coronary heart disease.
Ventricles. Naming blood vessels.
Valves. Blood.
Cardiac muscle. Plasma.
Cardiac cycle. Red blood cells.
Systole. Diastole. White blood cells.
Pacemaker. Platelets.
Heart beat. Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
Heart sounds. Functions of blood.

Transport in animals
Many animals do not have red blood as humans do, instead they have blue (squid and horseshoe
crabs) or green (bristle sea worm) blood.

Haemoglobin Red pigment that transports oxygen around our body, delivering it
to every cell that needs it. It contains an iron atom at its center.
(red blood)

Haemocyanin Blue pigment that contains a copper atom at its center. (blue
blood)

Chlorocruorin Pigment that is green when diluted and red when concentrated. It
contains an iron atom at its center. (green blood)
 Circulatory system
[main transport system of all mammals - blood system - network of tubes]

Heart: a pump that keeps blood flowing through the vessels.

- Valves
make sure that the blood flows in the right direction
- Blood vessels

Blood flows into the left-hand side of the heart, and then to the rest of our body. It is brought back to
the right-hand side of the heart, before returning to the lungs.

Human circulatory system

( Red: arteries Blue: veins )

The blood in the left hand side comes from the lungs. It contains oxygen
because of the gas exchange that happens in the alveoli. It is called
oxygenated blood.

The oxygenated blood is taken to the rest of the body to provide the
oxygen to the body cells that need it for aerobic respiration. Once this
happens the blood becomes deoxygenated.

It is brought back to the right-hand side of the heart.

Double closed and complete circulatory system

Double: the blood passes twice through the heart on one complete circuit of the body. It is found in
mammals, birds and reptiles.
Single: the blood passes once through the heart on one complete circuit. It is found in fish.
Closed: blood never leaves the circulatory system
Open: blood leaves the circulatory system (insects).

CIRCULATORY
SYSTEM

Cons & Pros:

- In a double circulatory system, the low-pressure blood is delivered back to the heart, which
raises its pressure again before sending it to the rest of the body.
- In fish, the low-pressure blood just carries around the body. Blood travels much more slowly.
Why is this important? Because any tissues that are metabolically active need a lot of oxygen
delivered to them as quickly as possible. This is much more effective in mammals than in fish.

The heart structure

Heart:
- pumps blood around the body
- made of cardiac muscle (it contracts and relaxes regularly)
- divided into four chambers (upper: atria, lower: ventricles)
- chambers are divided by a septum

Both of the atria receive blood:

➔ left: from the lungs through the pulmonary vein
➔ right: from rest of the body through the venae cavae (singular: vena cava)

Functions
Atria: receive blood and supply it to the ventricles.
Ventricles: pump blood out of the heart into the body.

The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs. The left ventricle has to pump blood all around the body
which is why it has a much thicker wall of muscle in order to do this. The blood flowing to the lungs
has a lower pressure than the blood in the aorta.
 The heart beat
“Lub-dub”. Each complete lub-dub represents one heartbeat.

- To measure the heartbeat rate you can take your pulse rate. A pulse is caused by the
expansion and relaxation of an artery, caused by the heart pushing blood from it.

EXERCISE = heart beats faster.

controlled by the pacemaker by sending

electrical signals through the walls
of the heart at regular intervals

The pacemaker’s rate changes according to the body’s needs. While doing exercise, our muscles need
extra oxygen, so the brain sends impulses along nerves to the pacemaker so that the heart beats faster.

- How does it happen?

While doing exercises, our respiration increases and more carbon dioxide is produced. Some of it
dissolves in blood, lowering the pH of the blood. Receptors in the brain sense this drop in the pH and
this triggers an increase in the frequency of the nerve impulse sent to the pacemaker.

➔ If our pacemaker does not work properly, it can be replaced by an artificial pacemaker. It produces
electrical impulses at a regular rate of one impulse per second. They can last up to 10 years before
they have to be replaced.

The valves in the heart

Systole: Cardiac muscle contracts, so the heart becomes smaller, squeezing blood out.
Diastole: Cardiac muscle relaxes, so the heart becomes larger and allows blood to flow into the atria
and ventricles.

Atrioventricular valves:
The valve on the left-hand side of the
heart is made of two parts and it is
called the bicuspid valve or the mitral
valve.

The valve on the right-hand side has

three parts and it is called the tricuspid
valve.

Their function is to stop blood flowing from the ventricles back to the atria. When the ventricles
contract, blood is pushed up into the arteries, not back into the atria. The pressure of the blood pushes
the valves upwards. The tendons attached to them, stop them from getting too far.
Heartbeat steps:
1. The muscles of the atria relax to allow blood to flow into the heart from the veins.
2. Blood enters.
3. Semilunar valves remain shut, to prevent blood from flowing into the ventricles.
4. Atrioventricular valves open.
5. Valves in the veins are forced shut by the pressure of the blood to avoid blood from going
back into the veins.
6. The muscles of the atria contract, squeezing blood into the ventricles.
7. Semilunar valves remain shut.
8. Atrioventricular valves are forced shut by the blood’s pressure.
9. Muscles of the ventricles contract, forcing blood out of them.
10. Semilunar valves are forced open by the pressure of the blood.

Atrial systole: the muscles of the atria contract, while the muscles of the ventricles remain relaxed.
Blood is forced from the atria into the ventricles.

Ventricular diastole: the muscles of the atria relax, the muscles of the ventricles contract. Blood is
forced from the ventricles into the arteries.
 Blood vessels
Arteries Capillaries Veins

Function Carry blood away from Take nutrients, O2 and Carry blood towards
the heart other materials to all cells the heart
in the body

Lumen Small Very small Large

Outer wall Thick and strong One cell thick Fairly thin

Lining Smooth - Smooth

Blood-pressure High Low Low

Elastic tissue? Yes No Yes

Valves? No No Yes

Blood
Plasma: liquid part of the blood that has cells (red / white blood cells and platelets). It is mostly water
and other substances are dissolved in it:

- Liquid medium - Hormones

- Carbon dioxide - Heat
- Nutrients - Proteins
- Urea - Antibodies

Erythrocytes Leucocytes Platelets

Origin Bone marrow of some Bone marrow Red bone marrow

bones (ribs, vertebrae and
limb bones)

Features Contains the pigment Has a nucleus, which is No nucleus

hemoglobin, without often large and lobed
nucleus

Function Carry oxygen and a small Engulf and destroy Blood clotting.
amount of carbon dioxide pathogens and make
antibodies

Shape Biconcave discs Variable shapes Small fragments of cells

 Coronary arteries

Coronary arteries: blood vessels on the outside

of the heart that supply blood to the heart
muscles.
The muscles of the heart are very thick so
nutrients and oxygen in the blood inside of the
heart cannot diffuse to all the muscles of the
heart quickly enough.
The heart muscle needs a constant supply of
these so the muscles keep contracting and
relaxing. Coronary arteries supply them.

Coronary heart disease: blockage of the coronary arteries

➔ If a coronary artery gets blocked by a blood clot, then it cannot supply oxygen to the heart so the
cardiac muscles run short of O2. Therefore they cannot respire aerobically, so they do not obtain
energy to contract. The heart stops beating - Heart attack.

FACTORS THAT CAN INCREASE IT:

1. Smoking: components of the cigarette damage the circulatory system.
2. Diet: diets high in salts, saturated fats and cholesterol can increase the chances of having a coronary
heart disease. Oils from plants and fish can prevent the disease.
3. Obesity: to avoid being overweight, keep your body healthy by doing exercises (cardio) to maintain
the coronary arteries in good condition.
4. Stress: Unmanageable or long-term stress can increase the risk of getting a heart disease. Avoiding
stress is a good idea.
5. Genes: If members of your family had heart diseases, it is more probably that you get a heart disease,
so you must have a healthy, non stressful life-style to avoid it.
6. Age: if you are older, the risk is bigger.
7. Gender: men are more likely to develop CHD than women.
8. High Blood Pressure: this can be caused by too much stress, an unbalanced diet or because of being
overweight.

Prevention:
1. Doing exercises
2. Stop smoking Treatment:
3. Balanced diet 1. Aspirins: decrease the risk of blood clots
4. Statin: drug that reduces cholesterol levels in 2. Coronary bypass: surgery in which a coronary
the blood artery is replaced with a length of blood vessel
taken from another part of your body.
3. Stent: little mesh tube inserted in the artery to
keep it open.
4. Angioplasty: tiny balloon that is inserted into
the collapsed artery, filled with water to
expand it, and then is removed.
5. Heart transplant.

Naming blood vessels

Functions of blood
Transport in the blood:
The main function of the blood is to transport substances from one part of the body to another.

Lungs: oxygen diffuses from the alveoli into the blood. The doughnut shape of the red blood cells
increases the surface area for diffusion so O2 can diffuse rapidly in and out of it.

[Oxygen + hemoglobin = oxyhemoglobin]

[O2 + Hb = oxyHb]

ALVEOLI BLOOD PULMONARY VEINS HEART AORTA

Arteries branch from the aorta to supply all the body with oxygenated blood. When it reaches a tissue
that needs oxygen, it takes out the oxygen from the oxyHb and it becomes just Hb again.

In the arteries, blood is a brighter red color than in veins because in the capillaries the oxyHb in the
red blood cells is taken very close to the tissues that need oxygen. OxyHb is bright red, Hb is
purplish-red. (Veins take deoxygenated blood to the heart, arteries distribute oxygenated blood to the
body)
Transport of carbon dioxide:
Carbon dioxide is a waste product made by respiration. Some of it is carried by the blood plasma in
the form of hydrogencarbonate ions (HCO3-) and a small amount is carried by Hb in the red cells.

BLOOD + CO2 HEART PULMONARY ARTERIES LUNGS

CO2 diffuses out of the blood (gas exchange) and it is taken out of the body by expiration

Transport of food materials:

Digested food? Absorbed in the ileum. It includes nutrients such as:

- Amino acids - Water

- Fatty acids - Vitamins
- Glycerol - Minerals
- Monosaccharides
These dissolve in the plasma in blood capillaries in the villi. These joined capillaries form the hepatic
portal vein, which transports the dissolved nutrients into the liver from the intestine, where they are
processed and some are returned to the blood.

Transport of urea:
It is a waste substance made in the liver. It dissolves in the plasma and it is carried to the kidneys
where it is excreted as urine.

Transport of hormones:
Made in the endocrine glands. They dissolve in the blood plasma and are transported all over the
body.

Transport of heat:
The liver creates heat and blood transports it to all the body to keep it warm. Alcohol damages the
liver

Transport of plasma proteins:

They are dissolved in the plasma such as fibrinogen.

The only function of blood which is not related to transport is to fight against infections:
- phagocytes: cells that eat other cells
- antibodies