Function Of The Cardiovascular System

In this assessment i will be writing about that structure and function of the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system includes the heart, blood vessels, blood and the lymphatic system.

The heart is an organ that is a none fatiguing muscle; it passes amino acids and other key nutrients. It transports other gases like oxygen and hormones. It carries waste products and then they are removed from the body, as well as that it transports de oxygenated gases and this is then expired.

There are 5 functions of the heart these functions are: transporting of nutrients, delivery of oxygen to working muscles, removal of waste produce, distributing key hormones and to transport De-oxygenated blood to the lungs.

-Transporting of nutrients

this is one of the important functions of the heart because it has to deliver nutrients to our working muscles. These nutrients are carried via plasma and plasma is in our blood. This is important because the muscles need to be supplied with energy and this energy is called glucose. This is needed for sports with short explosive movements like basketball. Glucose is also delivered with oxygen, and this slows that rate of the muscle fatiguing.

-Removal of waste produce

The Cardiovascular system removes waste products such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Lactic Acid from the muscle tissues. If the lactic acid doesn’t get removed from your muscles then you will feel stiff and sore the next day and your muscles will not be able to perform as well as they did the day before.

-Distributing hormones

Endocrine system is where the hormones are produced it is then transported in blood. This is made from the bone marrow witch is found in the centre of bones. Plasma is made up of about 53-56% blood; it contains proteins, carbon dioxide, ions and blood cells. This is important when it comes to sport because it prepares us for sport and adrenaline is produced, when adrenaline is released the athlete’s heart rate will increase and will get them ready for the sport. A sporting example in basketball would be at the start of an important game when the players are anxious of nervous.

– Transport De-oxygenated blood to the lungs

the cardiovascular system also transports de-oxygenated blood to the lung and it is then expired. The pathway of this is as followed: Blood enters the heart via the superior vena cava, flows into the right ventricle passing though the tricuspid valve. As soon as the right ventricle is full this valve then snaps shut to stop back flow , it is important that there is no back flow because if oxygenated and de-oxygenate blood was to mix then the working muscles would not be getting any oxygen and would fatigue. Also it would starve the brain and you would pass out. Following on with the journey, the right ventricle it then flows via the pulmonary artery (this is the only artery that carries de oxygenated blood) the blood is then defused in the lungs and becomes oxygenated. This is a very important function as out muscles need as much oxygen as possible to function at their optical level.

-Blood

Red blood cells theses are also called Erythrocytes these are used to carry oxygen around the body by Haemoglobin. They also transport other nutrients round our body that it requires. They take up oxygen in the lungs or gills and release it while squeezing through the body’s capillaries. These cells’ cytoplasm is rich in haemoglobin, an iron-containing bimolecular that can bind oxygen and is responsible for the blood’s red colour.

The Cardiovascular system carries white blood cells also called leukocytes, around our body which provides immunity from invading organisms. By having white blood cells in our body this stops us becoming seriously ill from illnesses, for example leukaemia, flu or just a cold .As our body is able to fight against it keeping the flu to a minimum.

-platelets

Platelets are sticky fragments of cells. Like blood they are produced in the bone marrow. The function of platelets is to control bleeding and to form scabs. Thrombocytes do this by sticking together in cuts making tiny fibres grow. Our red cells get trapped within the individual fibres and form a blood clot. This blood clot then turns into a scab.

-Heart

Important parts of the Heart which help the cardiovascular system work.

the heart has a left and right side, separated by a wall of muscle called the septum.

Blood from your body enters the right side of your heart through veins. The blood is dark because it has given all its oxygen to your body.

The right side of the heart pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to your lungs to pick up oxygen.

After travelling through the lungs, the blood turns bright red because it is rich in oxygen.

The oxygen-rich blood then returns to the left side of your heart and is pumped out to your body through the large artery called the aorta.

The cardiovascular system can be affected with intense training. This would have a positive affect on training. Endurance training would increase the left ventricle wall. This is called hypertrophied. Basically this means that the heat does not have to work as hard to pump the blood around the heart because it is stronger, but it still pumps the right amount of oxygen and blood to the working muscles. If you were to do this training then your resting heart rate would be decreased. But over time if you was to stop training then your heart would reduce in size over time. But this could be bad if you were to do too much intense training because the heart would get to bug and your resting heart rate would be too low, if it was under 30BPM then it could be life threatening this is called hypertrophic cardiomypathy. TE-Lymphatic system diagram.svg

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Part of the immune system is the lymphatic system which is made up of a network of conduits that carry a clear fluid called lymph (from Latin lympha “water”). It also includes the lymphoid tissue and lymphatic vessels through which the lymph travels in a one-way system in which lymph flows only toward the heart. Lymphoid tissue is found in many organs, particularly the lymph nodes, and in the lymphoid follicles associated with the digestive system such as the tonsils. The system also includes all the structures dedicated to the circulation and production of lymphocytes, which includes the spleen, thymus, bone marrow and the lymphoid tissue associated with the digestive system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphatic_system

Another function of the cardiovascular system is the regulation of body temperature, this is controlled by homeostasis.

Homeostasis is the state of inner balance and stability maintained by the human body despite constant changes in the external environment. It also works by filtering the blood and removing a carefully regulated amount of water and wastes to the lungs working together with the heart, blood vessels, and blood to distribute oxygen throughout the body and remove wastes.

It includes monitoring the water balance in the body, controlling blood sugar, body temperature control and monitoring of urea in the blood. All these processes are controlled by mechanisms such as sensors that detect the factor value. Another mechanism is the correction mechanism involving a negative feedback. Control of body temperature is controlled constriction and dilation of blood vessels, which is demonstrated in the body through vasoconstriction and vasodilation.

Vasodilation involves the dilation of the blood vessels to release excess heat therefore blood will flow quickly/faster to the muscles. The vessels are widening in diameter so more blood can flow through.

Vasoconstriction involves the constriction of the blood vessels to keep in any heat therefore blood will flow slowly to the muscles. The vessels are reducing in diameter so less blood can flow through.