Pump Up the Oxygen

To put it simply, your heart is a pump and moves liquid from one place to another. In the process, the heart re-oxygenates the blood moving through it with the oxygen you breathe in. This is an essential process as your blood provide oxygen to your entire body. If you don't get oxygen for more than a few minutes, you'll die.

The Basics

Your heart is a cone-shaped muscle in the middle of your chest, right between your lungs.The average adult heart weighs between 255 - 298 grams and it pumps about 7,200 liters of blood every day. The heart has three layers: the endocardium (outside layer), the myocardium (middle layer) and the pericardium (the fluid sack that surrounds the heart). The heart is also divided up into four chambers, which each have a valve that allows blood to flow in, but prevents blood from flowing backwards.

The heart squeezes blood out and into the rest of the circulatory system when it contracts. When it expands, it sucks in poorly oxygenated blood and pushes through the chambers and into the pulmonary artery, where it is re-oxygenated. Then the  blood makes its way out of the heart via the aorta and back into the body where it provides your cells with oxygen.

Some Facts

• In your life, your heart will beat around 2.5 billion times.
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide
• Your heart is about the size of your fist.