SLanley (4) 3P 1hursday March 13, 2014

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'8lood ls Lhe mosL lmporLanL llquld of Lhe body!' sure, buL whaL lf Lhere
wasn'L a !"#$% ln Lhe human body? 1hen blood wouldn'L move aL all! Pave you
LhoughL of LhaL? 1he hearL ls Lhe cenLer of Lhe clrculaLory sysLem, Lhe mosL
lmporLanL organ of Lhe sysLem.
Lvery sysLem of Lhe human body has a vlLal [ob. 1he clrculaLory sysLem's
[ob ls Lo supply cells wlLh nuLrlenLs and oxygen for Lhem Lo make energy, Lhen
plcks up wasLe made by Lhe cells and carbon dloxlde for dlsposal ln Lhe lungs or ln
Lhe kldneys. 1he clrculaLory sysLem conLalns Lhree Lypes of cells. 8ed blood cells,
are Lhe cells LhaL LransporL Lhlngs around Lhe body. WhlLe blood cells, Lhey are
Lhe ones LhaL proLecL Lhe oLher cells from harmful germs, bacLerla and vlruses by
shooLlng Lhem wlLh anLlbodles Lo gum Lhem up, Lhen oLhers engulf Lhe germs LhaL
are helplessly sLuck LogeLher. laLeleLs prevenL from Lhe body from bleedlng Loo
much, Lhey plle up and form whaL we call a scab. 1rouble ls, we always lnslsL
plcklng lL or scraLchlng lL.
WhaL ls Lhe hearL? 1he hearL ls Lhe organ LhaL pumps blood around Lhe
body. 1he hearL ls spllL ln Lo Lwo parLs, Lhe lefL slde and Lhe rlghL slde, each slde ls
dlvlded Lo Lwo parLs, Lhe
aLrlum and Lhe venLrlcle.
Cn Lhe lefL slde, Lhe
hearL pumps blood only
Lo Lhe lungs, Lo drop of
carbon dloxlde and plck
up oxygen. llrsL, Lhe
blood from Lhe body,
rlch wlLh wasLe carbon
dloxlde geLs pumped Lo
Lhe lefL aLrlum, Lhen
geLs pumped Lo Lhe venLrlcle and ouL of Lhe hearL buL Lo Lhe lungs. Cn Lhe rlghL
slde of Lhe hearL, Lhe oxygen rlch blood geLs pumped from Lhe lungs back Lo Lhe
rlghL aLrlum and venLrlcles, and Lo Lhe resL of Lhe body. 8ed blood cells, whlLe
blood cells and plaLeleLs Lravel ln arLerles and velns, arLerles are Lhe blood vessels
wlLh oxygen and nuLrlenLs. velns are Lhe blood vessels full of carbon dloxlde and
wasLe producLs.
!usL llke famlly and frlends, Lhe clrculaLory sysLem also lnLeracLs wlLh oLher
body sysLems .1he resplraLory sysLem, Lhe urlnary sysLem and Lhe dlgesLlve
sysLem. 1he clrculaLory sysLem lnLeracLs wlLh Lhe resplraLory sysLem by plcklng up
oxygen and dropplng off carbon dloxlde. 1he clrculaLory sysLem also lnLeracLs
wlLh Lhe urlnary sysLem by dropplng off exLra nuLrlenLs Lhe cells don'L need and
wasLe producLs Lo Lhe kldneys, Lhe kldneys fllLer Lhe blood and dlsposes Lhem ln
urlne. LasLly, Lhe clrculaLory sysLem lnLeracLs wlLh Lhe dlgesLlve sysLem because
when blood ls pumped Lo Lhe sLomach, red blood cells plck up Lhe nuLrlenLs from
Lhe food and LransporL Lhem Lo cells. lL also lnLeracLs wlLh Lhe dlgesLlve sysLem
because some exLra nuLrlenLs are sLored ln Lhe llver.
roLecLlng your clrculaLory sysLem ls very lmporLanL. 1o keep Lhe
clrculaLory sysLem golng well you need Lo have a balanced dleL. Avold foods hlgh
ln sodlum and cholesLerols. 1oo much cholesLerols and faL can block blood vessels
wlLh faL, whlch causes sLroke. 8errles are hlgh ln vlLamlns LhaL wlll help ln blood
flow. vegeLables conLaln magneslum LhaL wlll reduce blood pressure. Salmon
conLalns omega 3 and faLLy aclds LhaL wlll also help ln blood pressure conLrol.
Lxerclslng aL leasL 73 mlnuLes a week ls a greaL beneflL for Lhe hearL. ?ou could Lry
swlmmlng, runnlng, walklng, [ogglng or blklng. Smoklng ls an excellenL way Lo
cause hlgher blood pressure. Smoklng wlll narrow blood vessels, so Lhe hearL has
Lo pump fasLer and harder ln order Lo geL blood Lhrough.
1he clrculaLory sysLem can also caLch dlseases, whlch some could be llfe-
LhreaLenlng. 1he dlsease hemophllla prevenLs blood from cloLLlng properly, so lf
people wlLh Lhls dlsease geL cuL or ln[ured, Lhey can'L sLop bleedlng. 1hey would
need an ln[ecLlon of blood cloLLlng chemlcals. 1he dlsease slckle-cell anemla
affecLs red blood cells. vlcLlm's red blood cells Lurn lnLo a moon-llke crescenL
shape lnsLead of have a dlmple so lnfecLed red blood cells can'L collecL and
LransporL Lhlngs as much as
oLhers. 1hey also block blood
vessels. 1he lasL dlsease ls
leukemla. 1hls causes bone
marrows Lo make more whlLe
blood cells raLher Lhan red
blood cells. AfLer a perlod of
Llme, bone marrows sLop
maklng red blood cells buL only
make whlLe blood cells. lL
causes dlzzlness , paln full [olnLs, weak muscles and Lhey grow purple paLches on
Lhelr body. vlcLlms need a bone marrow LransplanL only from Lhelr broLhers or
slsLers wlLh slmllar bone marrow slze and same blood Lype.
1he clrculaLory sysLem ls one of Lhe mosL vlLal sysLems of Lhe human body.
1haL's why you should keep your clrculaLory sysLem as safe as you can and avold
ma[or ln[urles and dlseases whlle en[oylng everyday acLlvlLles. A healLhy body
comes a happler llfe!