The Heart

THE HEART

The Heart

T

he Heart is a muscular organ about the size of a closed fist that functions as the body’s circulatory pump located between the lungs and the chest bone. The heart points to the left, therefore, about 2/3 of the heart’s mass are found on the left side of the body and the 1/3 is on the right.

            The primary responsibility of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body. It pumps blood from the body called the systematic circulation through the lungs called the pulmonary circulation and then back out to the body.

            This means that the heart is connected to and affects the entirety of the body. Each part of the heart is susceptible to failure or dysfunction conditions that can exist in the heart.

Heart

What to Do To Lower the Risk of Heart Disease

©      Quit Smoking: Smoking causes your risk of heart attack to rise sharply, but one year after quitting your risk is cut in half and continues to go down as you stay smoke-free.

©      Monitor Your Blood Pressure:Having high blood pressure makes your heart work harder; it raises the risk of heart disease. Exercising, losing weight, eating healthy foods, cutting down your sodium intake, and limiting the number of alcohol intake.

©      Get Your Cholesterol As Low As Possible: The higher your blood cholesterol (which causes plaque to build in the artery walls), the higher your risk for heart disease. Many of the steps that help lower blood pressure also help lower your cholesterol.

©      Get Your Weight Down To A Healthy Level: Having excess weight makes you more likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, and raises your risk for heart disease.

©      Frequent Exercising:Exercising at a moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes most days of the week also helps protect your heart. When you keep a healthy heart regime and a heart-healthy lifestyle is that it is also beneficial for your overall health.

It is important to know that, a cardiologist is the specialist that studies the heart and heart diseases. So when you keep your heart healthy, you’ll also feel great and help yourself stay that way for years to come.