IMMUNITION™ Report©
Volume IV, No. 3 By Frank M. Jordan
Heart and Circulatory System
Read an important Health Treatment Notice about personal health issues.
Heart and Circulatory Facts
With each heartbeat, blood is sent throughout our bodies, carrying oxygen and nutrients to all of our cells. Each day, 2,000 gallons of blood travel many times through about 60,000 miles of blood vessels that branch and cross, linking the cells of our organs and body parts.
From the hard-working heart to our thickest arteries to capillaries so thin that they can only be seen through a microscope, the heart and circulatory system is our body’s lifeline, delivering blood to the body’s tissues.
What Is the Heart and Circulatory System?
The circulatory system is composed of the heart and blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries. Our bodies actually have two circulatory systems: The pulmonary circulation is a short loop from the heart to the lungs and back again. The systemic circulation is the system usually described as the circulatory system that sends blood from the heart to all the other parts of our bodies and back again.
The heart is the key organ in the circulatory system. As a hollow, muscular pump, its main function is to propel blood throughout the body. It usually beats from 60 to 100 times per minute, but can go much faster when necessary. It beats about 100,000 times a day, more than 30 million times per year, and about 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime.
The heart gets messages from the body that tell it when to pump more or less blood depending on an individual’s needs. When we’re sleeping, it pumps just enough to provide for the lower amounts of oxygen needed by our bodies at rest. When we’re exercising or frightened, the heart pumps faster to increase the delivery of oxygen.
The heart has four chambers that are enclosed by thick, muscular walls and lies between the lungs and just to the left of the middle of the chest cavity. The bottom part of the heart is divided into two chambers called the right and left ventricles, which pump blood out of the heart. A wall called the interventricular septum divides the ventricles.
The upper part of the heart is made up of the other two chambers of the heart, called the right and left atria. The right and left atria receive the blood entering the heart. A wall called the interatrial septum divides the right and left atria, which are separated from the ventricles by the atrioventricular valves. The tricuspid valve separates the right atrium from the right ventricle, and the mitral valve separates the left atrium and the left ventricle.
Two other cardiac valves separate the ventricles and the large blood vessels that carry blood leaving the heart. These valves are called the pulmonic valve, which separates the right ventricle from the pulmonary artery leading to the lungs, and the aortic valve, which separates the left ventricle from the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel.
Blood vessels carrying blood away from the heart are called arteries. Arteries are the thickest blood vessels, with muscular walls that contract to keep the blood moving away from the heart and through the body. In the systemic circulation, oxygen-rich blood is pumped from the heart into the aorta.
The huge aorta artery curves up and back from the left ventricle, then heads down in front of the spinal column into the abdomen. Two coronary arteries branch off at the beginning of the aorta and divide into a network of smaller arteries that provide oxygen and nourishment to the muscles of the heart.
Unlike the aorta, the body’s other main artery, the pulmonary artery, carries oxygen-poor blood. From the right ventricle, the pulmonary artery divides into right and left branches, on the way to the lungs where blood picks up oxygen.
Arterial walls have three layers:
- The endothelium is on the inside and provides a smooth lining for blood to flow over as it moves through the artery.
- The media is the middle part of the artery, made up of a layer of muscle and elastic tissue.
- The adventitia is the tough covering that protects the outside of the artery.
As they get farther from the heart, the arteries branch out into arterioles, which are smaller and less elastic.
Blood vessels that carry blood back to the heart are called veins. They’re not as muscular as arteries, but they contain valves that prevent blood from flowing backward. Veins have the same three layers that arteries do, but are thinner and less flexible. The two largest veins are the superior and inferior vena cavae. The terms superior and inferior don’t mean that one vein is better than the other, but that they’re located above and below the heart.
A network of tiny capillaries connects the arteries and veins. Though tiny, the capillaries are one of the most important parts of the circulatory system because it’s through them that nutrients and oxygen are delivered to the cells. In addition, waste products such as carbon dioxide are also removed by the capillaries.
What Does the Heart and Circulatory System Do?
The circulatory system works closely with other systems in our bodies to supply oxygen and nutrients to our bodies by working with the respiratory system. At the same time, the circulatory system helps carry waste and carbon dioxide out of the body.
Hormones – produced by the endocrine system – are also transported through the blood in our circulatory system. As the body’s chemical messengers, hormones transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another. For example, one of the hormones produced by the heart helps control the kidneys’ release of salt from the body.
One complete heartbeat makes up a cardiac cycle, which consists of two phases. When the heart beats, the ventricles contract (this is called systole), sending blood into the pulmonary and systemic circulation. Then the ventricles relax (this is called diastole) and fill with blood from the atria.
A unique electrical conduction system in the heart causes it to beat in its regular rhythm. The sinoatrial or SA node, a small area of tissue in the wall of the right atrium, sends out an electrical signal to start the contracting of the heart muscle.
This node is called the pacemaker of the heart because it sets the rate of the heartbeat and causes the rest of the heart to contract in its rhythm. These electrical impulses cause the atria to contract first, and then travel down to the atrioventricular or AV node, which acts as a kind of relay station. From here the electrical signal travels through the right and left ventricles, causing them to contract and forcing blood out into the major arteries.
In the systemic circulation, blood travels out of the left ventricle, to the aorta, to every organ and tissue in the body, and then back to the right atrium. The arteries, capillaries, and veins of the systemic circulatory system are the channels through which this long journey takes place.
Once in the arteries, blood flows to smaller arterioles and then to capillaries. While in the capillaries, the bloodstream delivers oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells and picks up waste materials. Blood then goes back through the capillaries into venules, and then to larger veins until it reaches the vena cavae.
Blood from the head and arms returns to the heart through the superior vena cava, and blood from the lower parts of the body returns through the inferior vena cava. Both vena cavae deliver this oxygen-depleted blood into the right atrium. From here the blood exits to fill the right ventricle, ready to be pumped into the pulmonary circulation for more oxygen.
In the pulmonary circulation, blood low in oxygen but high in carbon dioxide is pumped out the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, which branches off in two directions. The right branch goes to the right lung, and vice versa. In the lungs, the branches divide further into capillaries.
Blood flows more slowly through these tiny vessels, allowing time for gases to be exchanged between the capillary walls and the millions of alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs. During the process called oxygenation, oxygen is taken up by the bloodstream. Oxygen locks onto a molecule called hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The newly oxygenated blood leaves the lungs through the pulmonary veins and heads back to the heart. It enters the heart in the left atrium, then fills the left ventricle so it can be pumped into the systemic circulation.
Whew! Aren’t we glad our hearts don’t get tired when we do just trying to understand how it works!
Things That Can Go Wrong With the Heart and Circulatory System
Problems with the cardiovascular system are common – more than 64 million Americans have some type of cardiac problem.
Heart and circulatory problems are grouped into two categories: congenital, which means the problems were present at birth, and acquired, which means that the problems developed some time during infancy, childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.
Congenital heart defects are abnormalities in the heart’s structure that are present at birth. Out of every 1,000 live births, there are approximately eight newborns who have congenital heart defects ranging from mild to severe. Congenital heart defects occur while the fetus is developing in the mother’s uterus and it’s not usually known why they occur. Some congenital heart defects are caused by genetic disorders, but most are not. What all congenital heart defects have in common, however, is abnormal or incomplete development of the heart.
A common sign of a congenital heart defect is a heart murmur. A heart murmur is an abnormal sound like a blowing or whooshing sound that’s heard when listening to the heart. Usually a heart murmur is detected by a doctor who’s listening to the heart with a stethoscope during a routine exam. Murmurs are very common in children and can be caused by congenital heart defects or other heart conditions.
The following are acquired heart defects:
Arrhythmia
Cardiac arrhythmias, which are also called dysrhythmias or rhythm disorders, are abnormalities in the heart’s rhythm. Arrhythmias may be caused by a congenital heart defect or they may be acquired later. An arrhythmia may cause the heart’s rhythm to be irregular, abnormally fast, or abnormally slow. Arrhythmias can occur at any age and may be discovered during a routine physical examination. Depending on the type of rhythm disorder a person has, arrhythmias may be treated with medication, surgery, or pacemakers.
Cardiomyopathy is a chronic disease that causes the heart muscle (the myocardium) to become weakened. Usually, the disease first affects the lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, and then progresses and damages the muscle cells and even the tissues surrounding the heart. In its most severe forms, this condition may lead to heart failure and even death. Cardiomyopathy is the number-one reason for heart transplants in children.
Coronary artery disease. The most common heart disorder in adults, coronary artery disease is caused by atherosclerosis (pronounced: ah-thuh-ro-skluh-ro–sis). Deposits of fat, calcium, and dead cells, called atherosclerotic plaques, form on the inner walls of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply the heart and interfere with the smooth flow of blood.
Blood flow to the heart muscle may even stop if a thrombus, or clot, forms in a coronary vessel, which may cause a heart attack.
In a heart attack, also known as a myocardial infarction, the heart muscle becomes damaged by lack of oxygen, and unless blood flow returns within minutes, muscle damage increases, and the heart’s ability to pump blood is compromised.
If the clot can be dissolved within a few hours, damage to the heart can be reduced.
High Cholesterol
Hyperlipidemia/hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol). Cholesterol is a waxy substance that’s found in the body’s cells, in the blood, and in some of the foods we eat.
Having too much cholesterol in the blood, also known as hypercholesterolemia or hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for heart disease and can lead to a heart attack.
Cholesterol is carried in the bloodstream by lipoproteins. Two kinds – low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) – are the most important.
High levels of LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) increase a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke, whereas high levels of HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) can protect against these. A blood test can indicate if a person’s cholesterol level.
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Hypertension is when a person has blood pressure that’s significantly higher than normal. Over time, it can cause damage to the heart and arteries and other body organs. The symptoms of hypertension can include headache, nosebleeds, dizziness, and lightheadedness. Infants, children, and teens can have high blood pressure, which may be caused by genetic factors, excess body weight, diet, lack of exercise, and diseases such as heart disease or kidney disease. (See IMMUNITION Report IV-2 “High Blood Pressure – You are the Problem and the Solution!”
Vassculitis
Vasculitis can affect all major arteries in the body – including the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart. It can also cause inflammation of the heart muscle, a condition called myocarditis. When coronary arteries become inflamed, a person can develop aneurysms, which are weakened and bulging spots on the walls of arteries.
This increases the risk of a blood clot forming in this weakened area, which can block the artery, possibly leading to a heart attack. In addition to the coronary arteries, the heart muscle, lining, valves, or the outer membrane that surrounds the heart can become inflamed.
Arrhythmias
Arrhythmias are changes in the normal pattern of the heartbeat. Arrhythmias and abnormal functioning of some heart valves can occur.
Rheumatic heart disease.
Usually the complication of an untreated strep throat infection, rheumatic fever can lead to permanent heart damage and even death. Most common in children between 5 and 15 years of age, it begins when antibodies the body produces to fight the strep infection begin to attack other parts of the body.
Antibodies react to tissues in the heart valves as though they were the strep bacteria and cause the heart valves to thicken and scar. Inflammation and weakening of the heart muscle may also occur. Usually, when strep throat infections are promptly treated with antibiotics, this condition can be avoided.
Stroke
Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is cut off or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts and spills blood into an area of the brain, causing damage to brain cells.
Persons who have experienced stroke may be suddenly numb or weak, especially on one side of the body, and they may experience a sudden severe headache, nausea or vomiting, and difficulty seeing, speaking, walking, or moving.
Getting plenty of exercise, eating a nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting regular medical checkups are the best ways to help keep the heart healthy and avoid long-term problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
Heart Medications
Several kinds of prescription drugs are used to treat Heart and Circulatory challenges. A brief summary includes:
- Digitalis to slow transmission of the heart’s electrical impulses, slowing a fast heart rate.
- Calcium Channel Blockers decrease the frequency and force of the heart’s contractions, reducing the likelihood of an arrhythmia. Two common ones are dilitazem and verapamil.
- Beta Blockers are drugs that slow the speed at which electrical impulses travel from the sinus node to the rest of the heart muscle, reducing the likelihood of an arrhythmia. Common ones include atenolol, metoprolol, nadolol and pindolol.
- Anticoagulants or blood thinners are used in people with atrial fibrillation and deep vein thrombosis. Warfarin (Coumadin) and Heparin or aspirin are used to reduce the risk of blood clots and stroke.
- Multiple other drugs all help slow down heart rhythms that are too fast. Antiarrhythmic drugs are potent and often have serious side effects, requiring close monitoring.
Natural and Nutritional Aids to Heart Health
Nutritional dietary supplements can help to nutritionally help promote heart and circulatory wellness when taken orally.
- MG Beta-1,3/1,6-glucan – MG Beta -1,3/1,6 glucan is taken orally and nutritionally potentiates and modulates the immune response in multiple ways and biologically modulates the immune cells to decrease plaque accumulation in arterial walls.
- Aged Garlic – Aged Garlic of 600-800 mg daily lowers blood pressure by activating nitric oxide synthase and has no side effects. It lowers homocysteine, increases blood flow, is a vasodilator and helps stop blood from abnormal clotting.
- Vitamin C – 500-2000 mg – as ascorbic acid is a plaque and unwanted clots discourager. Lowers cholesterol.
- Bromelain – 150 mg – is a clot-dissolving enzyme bromelain, plus dissolves plaque.
- Coenzyme Q10 – 100 to 200mg – is a potent antioxidant needed for adequate oxygenation in the cells of the heart muscle. If taking a Statin drug, you should supplement with CoQ10 or potentially risk Congestive Heart Failure from Statins blocking natural delivery of CoQ10 from the liver.
- Calcium 1500 mg, Magnesium of 4-800 mg daily aids in reducing high blood pressure (hypertension) and potassium of 2000 mg.
- Lysine and proline are amino acids to strengthen vessel walls naturally.
- L-Arginine – 1,500 mg daily, is a simple amino acid and vasodilator to increase blood flow.
- Vitamin E – 400 IU
- Phosphatidyl choline
- Fish Oil/Omega 3’s – as directed to reduce hardening of arteries
- Vitamin B Complex with B6 and B12.
- Folate in the form of folic acid.
- Hawthorne Berry to increase blood flow and lower pressure
- Weight Management and proper Nutrition – Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Eat 4 celery stalks daily!
Take care of your heart and your heart will continue to take care of you!
About the Author: Frank Jordan has a post-graduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and is a co-patent holder on U.S. patents issued or in application related to the immune response in conjunction with researchers at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Dept. of Microbiology. Jordan also hosted Healthy, Wealthy and Wise national radio show. Learn more about Frank Jordan on the web at www.immunitionreports.com
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This IMMUNITION REPORTS website (www.immunitionreports.com) is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered; however, this website is not intended to be a substitute for a professional consultation with a physician or a qualified health care provider or to offer medical or related professional advice. Frank Jodan is a health professional. Frank Jordan is not a licensed physician or medical doctor.