Heart Attack

Doctors, I do want to know about heart attacks, but why should I need to know the structure and functions of the heart first?
For an intelligent grasp of the subject some basic knowledge of this organ, namely, the heart and its functions is not only desirable but essential. 

What does the heart do?
The heart acts as a muscular pump. It pumps blood into the lungs for oxygenation and then the oxygenated blood to the whole body. 

What are blood vessels?
Blood vessels are tube-like structures, called arteries and veins. 

What is their function?
The arteries carry the pure (oxygenated) blood from the heart to various parts of the body, and the veins bring the impure (unoxygenated) blood back to the heart. 

Do you mean, doctor, that the blood is constantly circulating throughout the body?
Yes, of course, the blood is constantly circulating all over the body throughout our lives, because every part of our body has to be constantly supplied with nutrients, water and oxygen, which are supplied through the blood. 

How is this process of circulation of blood carried out by the heart?
Before I can answer this question, I should tell you about the structure of the heart. 

What are the different chambers that the heart consists off?
The heart has four chambers, two on the right (actually on the right and front) and two on the left ( actually to the left and behind the right –sided chambers). To make it easily understandable, a simplified diagrammatic view of the heart is given in Each of the two sides of the heart consists of a smaller receiving chamber called the ventricle, which, respectively, receive blood from the whole body and pump it into the lungs. And we have a left atrium and a left ventricle, which, respectively, receive oxygenated blood form the lungs and pump it into the aorta, the main arterial highway of the body.

What does the aorta do with the blood that it receive from the left ventricle?
The aorta, through its branches, takes the oxygenated blood to every part of the body. 

Are there are structural differences between the two ventricles?
The left ventricle has to pump blood to the whole body; it has to expend much more energy than the right ventricle which has to pump blood only into the lungs. Consequently, the left ventricle is much thicker and heavier of the two ventricles and is the principal pumping chamber of the heart. Read More