Cardiovascular System
By Molly Koepke
General Over View
The cardiovascular system is the system your heart is in it helps pump blood and oxygen through the body.
Heart
The heart is a muscle, about the size of a fist. Its job is to move oxygen rich blood through the body to organs that need the oxygen. Also to move non oxygen rich blood through the body to the lunges to get more oxygen.
Blood and Blood Cells
Blood
It is made up of four main components that all work together. They are Plasma, red blood cells , white blood cells and platelets.
Red Blood Cells
The Scientific name is erythrocytes. Blood is made up of 40-50% red blood cells. The shape of a red blood cell is similar to a frisbee disk with a sunken center.
White Blood Cells
The scientific name is leukocytes. White blood cells are much fewer in number than red blood cells. They help protect the body from infection.
Blood Vessel
The blood vessel is the structure that carries blood through the body. It is made up of Artery's, Vein's, and Capillary's. The Artery is the part of the blood vessel that helps move oxygenated blood through the body. The vein is the part of the blood vessel that brings oxygen depleted blood back to the heat. The capillary is the smaller part of the blood system that branches off of the veins and artery's. The capillary helps bring blood to the outer extremities of the body, for example the fingers and toes.
Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary Heart Disease, also called Hardening of the arteries. This is a disease that is caused by build up of plaque in the arteries to the heart. The plaque build up is from different fatty materials and it starts to build up on the walls of your arteries and makes it harder for the blood and oxygen to get where it needs to be in the body. One of the main symptoms is called angina. Witch is a pain in the chest or heart area. This happens because the heart is not getting enough oxygen. If the flow of oxygen enriched blood gets to low it will cause a heart attack. The simplest form of treatment would be a healthy diet and exercise. Then there are medications that help reduce the build up of plaque. If the medications or a healthy diet are not working there is surgery where you have to go into the artery that is blocked and remove the plaque.
Leukemia
Leukemia is a cancer that starts in the tissue that creates the blood cells. The cancer attacks the white blood cells that help fight off infections so the immune system dose not work. Symptoms are feeling sick headaches, confusion, or vomiting. It depends on how far the cancer has spread through the body. Treatment options depend on how advanced the cancer is but the most common are radiation, chemotherapy, and stem cell transplant.
Congenital Heart Defects In Babies
Data has shown that testing for congenital heart defects in newborns is very important. It shows that if testing is done 3 days or later after birth it is "late". Testing should be done within the first 24-48 hours of life.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/heartdefects/features/keyfindings-screening-impact-cchd.html