Cardiovascular Disease

I became a little more interested in the heart and wondered a little about heart disease.  I found some interesting information.  61 millions americans are faced with cardiovascular disease.  There are different types including, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, heart attacks, and stroke.  The heart is obviously the center of the cardiovascular system and pumps blood to all of the cells in our body.  It also carries oxygen, which the cells need. When these things aren't happening we are faced with problems, know as cardiovascular disease.  


Some problems that go along with heart disease are:


Arteriosclerosis: also called hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis means the arteries become thickened and are no longer as flexible.
Atherosclerosis: a buildup of cholesterol and fat that makes the arteries narrower so less blood can flow through. Those buildups are called plaque.
Angina : people with angina feel a pain in the chest that means the heart isn't getting enough blood.
Heart attack: when a blood clot or other blockage cuts blood flow to a part of the heart.
Stroke: when part of the brain doesn't get enough blood due to a clot or a burst blood vessel.


Below is a video of an actual surgery, While the heart is still beating. VERY INTERESTING:

Cardiovascular

Over the last couple of weeks, we have done many things involving the cardiovascular system.  We have gathered up a lot of useful information to help us better understand how it works, and we have done this by performing various labs.

First of all and most interesting was the dissection of the cow, sheep, and pig heart.  My group dissected the pig heart.  Looking for things such as the ventricles, aorta, atriums, outer walls, and the pulmonary trunk. This blog was very useful for me, in the sense that I not only got to see what the internal heart looked like, but it also allowed me to learn how to locate the different parts of the heart. We measure each part, in order for us to compare the difference in sizes, finding that the cow heart was the biggest out of the three.  I really enjoyed this lab and felt that I know have a better understanding of the way that the heart function.

Here is an appetizing picture: : ) . . . .

Next we analyzed the heart using EKG. This is the graphical recording of the electrical events occurring within the heart.  This allowed us to learn how to distinguish a "normal" heart rate from a "abnormal heart beat".  

Before this lab, I would look at this and think it was just a bunch of line that meant you were breathing so everything was good.  But now I look at this and realize that this is a normal heart beat because the atrial depolarization, ventricular depolarization, and ventricular re-polarization are all normal.  

This is a picture of an abnormal heart beat, because it is missing the Q,R, and the S. Which indicates that the electrical impulse was blocked before it reached the ventricles.  This would be something that you would definitely need to recognize an abnormal heart which can be life threatening.  

We also learned how to use a stethoscope with the sphygmomanometer to take blood pressure.  This showed the advancement of technology and how easy it is for us to listen to someones heart to make sure that everything is running correctly.  The normal blood pressure is 120/80, although women often tend to have a lower blood pressure than men.

After this unit, I feel as though I have learned a lot about the heart.  I didn't know much before, but now I can actually understand how the heart works, and even take someones blood presssure : )! Very fun unit.