GOINDIS NATUROPATHY TRUST(INDIA)
Charity Registration No.845/4 dated 03.09.2003
THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
SANTOKH SINGH PARMAR
FOUNDER TRUSTEES:
Satyendra Singh Goindi, MSc, LLB, ND
Gurkirpal Kaur Goindi, BA, BEd, DPE, ND
Santokh Singh Parmar, B Arch, Dip TP, Dip LA, MRTPI, AITP, AIIA
Devinder Singh Saroya, PCS
Gurmukh Singh Girn, MSc, MCRP, AITP
3 THE Circulatory System
What is Circulatory System?
3.1. Your circulatory system includes the cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular system, which consists of the heart (cardio), blood, and blood vessels (-vascular), transports life-giving blood carrying oxygen, nutrients, antibodies, and infection-fighting cells to each cell in your body. It also helps rid the body of wastes. In addition to blood, your body has fluid lymph that circulates throughout it. The lymphatic system is a drainage subsystem for the larger circulatory system and is active in fighting disease.
Composition of Blood
3.2. Blood consists of various specialised cells and a fluid called plasma. The yellowish plasma contains water, nutrients, wastes, and other materials. The cells found in blood include red blood cells, which carry oxygen; white blood cells, which protect the body against disease; and platelets, which initiate the process of blood clotting. Blood cells are made in the marrow, a soft fatty substance that fills the hollow parts of bones.
3.3 Red Blood Cells – These consist mainly of hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein that gives them their red colour. Oxygen is picked up by the red blood cells in the lungs. As blood is pumped around the body, oxygen is dropped off wherever it is needed by other body cells and tissues.
3.4 White Blood Cells – White blood cells, fewer than red, are an integral component of the immune system and help defend the body against infection and disease. White cells help in destroying most of the harmful microorganisms (germs) that enter the body and help us to stay strong and healthy. Some cannot be destroyed as they carry poison. To make the poison-carrying germs harmless, the white cells produce an anti-toxin (anti-poison) which turns the poison harmless.
3.5 Platelets – Platelets are a round or oval disc-like structures 2-4 mm in diameter in the blood ranging from 1,50,000 to 4,50,000/ul and play an important role in coagulation (clotting) that helps stop bleeding. They live for about 8-10 days only.
The Blood Vessels
3.6 The 1,00,000 km blood vessels of the circulatory system form a continuous system supplying oxygenated blood to the body’s 100 trillion cells, tissues and organs. There are three types of blood vessels. Arteries are the thick-walled vessels that carry blood from the heart to all parts of the body. Veins, which have thinner walls, carry blood back to the heart from all parts of the body. Veins also contain tiny valves that prevent blood from flowing downward from the pull of gravity. Capillaries, which are the smallest of the blood vessels, link the arteries to the veins. The wall of a capillary is only one cell thick, which allows oxygen and nutrients to leave the bloodstream easily and be taken up by the body’s cells. Because of their small diameter, blood cells must pass through capillaries in single file. No cell in the body is more than a few cells away from a capillary.
The Heart
3.7 A fist size human heart weighing about 340 grams, is the world’s most efficient and wonderous pump, pumping blood through more than 1,00,000 kilometers of blood vessels (arteries, veins and capillaries). The heart lies in the middle of the chest between the lungs. It is situated closer to the front of the chest than to the back and slightly to the left side. The power of the heart is less than a 100 watt bulb but has incredible efficiency of pumping nearly 7,600 litres of blood per day, equivalent to filling tanks of 300 cars; and that too without rest and break and year after year. Heart is made up of a special muscle consisting of several layers of muscles arranged in circles and spirals. Cardiac muscle is called involuntary because it works without our thinking about it. No other muscle in the body is as hardworking and as strong as the heart is. Heart is only 0.5% of body weight but needs 5% of total blood supply to take care of body’s nutritional needs. The work done by the heart is almost equal to the work we would perform if we had to lift about 4.50 kilograms weight 3 feet off of the ground and if we had to repeat this task twice every minute for our entire lives. The heart is the circulatory system’s pump. Actually, the heart is two pumps placed side-by-side. The septum, a muscular wall divides the right and left sides of the heart. It prevents the blood from crossing over from one side to the other. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs, and the left side pumps blood to the rest of the body. The atria receive blood and pump it into the ventricles. The ventricles push the blood out of the heart. The ventricles’ job requires a greater force, so the ventricles are larger and more muscular. Valves in the heart allow blood to move through it in one direction only.
3.8 Blood enters the right atrium of the heart and is pumped into the right ventricle. When the right ventricle contracts, blood is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs, where the blood gives off carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen. Oxygen-rich blood returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins and the left atrium. It is, then pumped to the left ventricle. The left ventricle contracts, pumping blood into the large artery, aorta, and out to various parts of the body. Oxygen-rich blood is carried by the branches of the aorta to cells in all parts of the body. When the cells use up all the oxygen, the veins carry the blood back to the heart. The arteries coming out of the right side of the heart carry this blood to the lungs, where it gets more oxygen. Then the oxygen-rich blood is carried to the left side of the heart, and the cycle begins all over again. Blood that does not get oxygen is purplish-red in colour. Blood that is rich in oxygen is scarlet or bright red in colour.
Heartbeat and Cardiac Output
3.9 One complete contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle makes up one heartbeat. In an adult the heart beat rate is 60-80 times a minute. In children, it is faster – about 80-100 times. In babies, it is very fast. Exercise, fever, excitements and some kinds of infections increase the rate of heartbeat. During exercise, the muscles and the body organs need more oxygen and nutrients. The heart accommodates this need in two ways. First, it pumps blood out faster, increasing the heart rate. Second, the heart increases its stroke volume, the amount of blood pumped out of the heart
with each heartbeat. The amount of blood pumped with each beat multiplied by the number of beats per minute is called cardiac output. As a person exercises regularly and becomes more conditioned, the heart begins to work more efficiently and stroke volume increases. In very well-conditioned athletes, the heart itself enlarges in response to the increased demand. This type of enlargement is not harmful and disappears rapidly if the exercise level diminishes.
Heart Arrhythmia
3.10 The heart beats in a regular rhythm as the walls of the atria and ventricles alternately contract and relax. This is called the cardiac cycle. If the cardiac cycle is disrupted and the heart gets out of rhythm, a condition called arrhythmia results. Arrhythmia can lead to serious consequences, including death. When a person begins to exercise, the heart adjusts to the greater demand for oxygen by increasing its rate. If the person exercising has a heart problem or is in a weakened condition, there is a chance that as the heart rate increases, the heart will get out of rhythm. When the heart’s atria get out of synch, a person can survive because blood is still able to move through the heart. However, if the ventricles are affected, sudden death may occur because blood does not get pumped to the vital organs. To help avoid exercise-related heart-rhythm problems, always warm up first so the heart can adjust slowly. There are other causes for arrhythmia. For example, the drug cocaine can cause arrhythmia by disabling the nerves that regulate the contractions of the heart.
What is Blood Pressure?
3.11 Blood pressure (BP) is determined by two key factors: how hard heart beats and how easily the blood flows through the arteries. The force exerted by the heart as it pumps blood into the arteries creates a pressure within them and this is called “blood pressure”. A certain level of blood pressure is thus essential to keep the blood circulating in the body. But when pressure becomes too high, it is called hypertension which is caused by constriction or narrowing of the small blood vessels.
How is Blood Pressure Measured?
3.12 The blood pressure has been traditionally measured in two figures with an instrument called “sphygmomanometer” in millimeter height of mercury rise (mmHg). Blood pressure is the result of two forces; (i) force from the heart as it beats and pumps blood into the arteries and throughout the circulatory system and (ii) the force of the arteries as they resist blood flow between heart beats when the heart is at rest. Thus during each heart beat, the heart muscle contracts to push blood around the body. The pressure produced by the heart is the highest when it contracts to push the blood on its journey through the body and this is known as systolic (higher value) pressure and indicates the activity of the heart. Then the heart muscle relaxes before its next contraction, and the pressure is at its lowest, which is known as diastolic (lower value) pressure and shows the condition of blood vessels.
3.13 Both systolic and diastolic pressures are measured when you have your BP checked. For example, universally recognised normal BP of 120/80 represents 120 mmHg of systolic pressure and 80 mmHg of diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure range can be from 80 to 300 and diastolic from 60 to 140.
The Role of Lymphatic System
3.14 The cells of the body are bathed in a clear watery fluid called lymph. This fluid helps move materials between the capillaries and the body’s cells. Lymph is formed from water, proteins, and other nutrients that move out of the blood into the spaces between the body’s cells. This fluid must be returned to the circulatory system. A system of lymphatic vessels similar to the veins and capillaries collect the fluid and return it to the circulatory system. The lymph capillaries parallel the blood capillary system and are connected to larger lymph vessels that eventually connect to one of two ducts. These two ducts, the thoracic and the right lymphatic, open into two veins just above the heart.
3.15 The lymphatic system is also a part of the body’s immune system. In addition to the lymph fluid and vessels, this system includes the lymph glands, the thymus gland, the spleen, and the tonsils. For information about the role of The lymphatic system in fighting disease, refer to the section on the Immune System.
What is a Pacemaker?
3.16 Two small groups of cells in the wall of the heart set the pace for cardiac contraction. They are the heart’s natural pacemaker. Sometimes disease causes these cells to become slow in their initiation of the contraction. If medication does not help, doctors can insert an electronic, artificial pacemaker near the heart. This pacemaker is battery-operated, and wires from it send a small electric impulse to the heart at regular intervals.
How does Blood Clot?
3.17 The body has a special way of mending itself. When a blood vessel is cut, platelets are triggered off to produce a clotting substance, which sticks to the edges of the cut. This joins with other clotting substances to form thread-like strands, which get tangled together, trapping blood cells between them. They then release chemicals which react with plasma proteins to form a blood clot. The blood makes a kind of crust, called a “scab” over the cut. The drying scab also keeps germs out of the body until the cut has healed. That is why we should never pick and remove a scab. After some time when the skin underneath has healed, the scab falls off by itself.
Santokh Singh Parmar
Naturo-Food Therapist & Lifestyle Consultant
Mobile: +91(0) 9815922330
Websites: www.naturofoodtherapy.org & www.foodtherapy.org
Note: The above information and advice and indicative remedies are not a substitute for the advice, your doctor or naturo-food therapist may give you based on his/her knowledge of yourself.