The Heart is part of our body’s cardiovascular system, an organ system made up of the atria, ventricles, valves, and blood vessels that allows blood to circulate and transport nutrients (such as amino acids and electrolytes), oxygen, carbon dioxide, hormones, and blood cells to and from the cells in the body to provide nourishment and help in fighting diseases, stabilize temperature and pH, and maintain homeostasis.
From my perspective one of the major factors that
contributes to the extremely high rates of heart disease amongst Blacks is due
to our ‘heart illiteracy’, that results in Blacks taking their most powerful life
sustaining organ for granted - neglecting their heart!
As Black folks we definitely need to increase our knowledge of a heart healthy lifestyle, however we also need to increase our literacy of heart physiology and functioning, the following are 20 facts about the heart:
*The ancient African Egyptians were the first to depict a religious judgment day scene where the heart was weighed against a feather. The earliest known case of heart disease was identified in the remains of a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy. Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart and other major organs had wills of their own.
*The first open-heart surgery occurred in 1893. It was performed by Daniel Hale Williams, who was one of the few Black cardiologists in the United States at the time.
*Dr. Charles Drew – a Black man invented a way to process and preserve blood plasma, allowing it to be stored and shipped for blood transfusions. Until then, blood was perishable and not fit for use after about a week. Drew's invention vastly improved the efficiency of blood banks.
*The heart is the first organ developed in the fetus and begins beating at four weeks after conception and does not stop until dead. The fetal heart rate is approximately twice as fast as an adult’s, at about 150 beats per minute. By the time a fetus is 12 weeks old its heart pumps an amazing 60 pints of blood a day.
*The human heart weighs less than 1 pound, it’s the size of an adult fist. A man’s heart, on average, is 2 ounces heavier than a woman’s heart. A woman’s heart beats slightly faster than a man’s heart.
*The beating sound of your heart is caused by the 4 valves of the heart opening and closing.
*The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 115,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime. The heart can continue beating even when it’s disconnected from the body.
*The volume of blood pumped by the heart can vary over a wide range, from five to 30 liters per minute; your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood every day.
*The heart pumps blood to almost all of the body’s 75 trillion cells. Only the corneas receive no blood supply. Five percent of blood supplies the heart, 15-20% goes to the brain and central nervous system, and 22% goes to the kidneys.
*A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime.
*During an average lifetime, the heart will pump nearly 1.5 million barrels of blood - enough to fill 200 train tank cars.
*If you were to stretch out your blood vessel system, it would extend over 60,000 miles.
*An electrical system controls the rhythm of your heart. It’s called the cardiac conduction system. Because the heart has its own electrical impulse, it can continue to beat even when separated from the body, as long as it has an adequate supply of oxygen.
*The heart does the most physical work of any muscle during a lifetime. The power output of the heart ranges from 1-5 watts. While the quadriceps can produce 100 watts for a few minutes, an output of one watt for 80 years is equal to 2.5 gigajoules.
*Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.
*The heart has approximately 60 times greater electrically and up to 5,000 times stronger magnetically than the brain.
*Scientific research has shown that the heart itself has an intelligent system - has its own brain. Studies indicate specifically how the heart sends more information to the brain than vice versa.
*Most heart attacks happen on a Monday and Christmas day is the most common day of the year for heart attacks to happen.
*It’s possible to have a broken heart; it’s called broken heart syndrome and can have similar symptoms as a heart attack. The difference is that a heart attack is from heart disease and broken heart syndrome is caused by a rush of stress hormones from an emotional or physical stress event.
*Laughing and meditative deep breathing is good for your heart, both reduce stress and gives a boost to your immune system.
