Thank you for joining me again this evening for our nightly podcasts. I perform these podcasts in the hopes that you will be able to education yourself on the topics discussed so you can make better informed medical decisions regarding your health in the future. I am doctor Harrison Campbell of Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. Previously we discussed the brachial plexus and broke down the anatomy of this confluence of nerves. Tonight, we will be discussing the anatomy of the heart.
Most people know the heart pumps blood and some might remember from their health class that there are four chambers. As sugar land chiropractors can tell you there is much more to the anatomy of these muscle than the general overview most get in the health classes from high school. We will begin with the basic blood flow through the chambers.
Blood return to the heart through the superior and inferior vena cava. These are the main veins in the body where all other veins connect in order to get blood back to the heart. The superior and inferior vena cava both drop their blood into the right atrium. This is the very first chamber of the heart. The roll of this chamber is to pump blood into the right ventricle. The valve which separates the right atrium from the right ventricle is called the tricuspid valve. As sugar land chiropractors know when the right atrium is contracting the tricuspid valve is open and allows the blood to be pumped into the right ventricle.
Once the blood is in the right ventricle, the tricuspid valve closes to allow the right ventricle to contract and prevent back flow of blood into the right atrium. Now the roll of the right ventricle is to pump blood to the lungs. First, the pulmonary valves need to be open in order to allow the blood to enter the pulmonary arteries and carry the blood to the lungs to be oxygenated. It is in the lungs where the carbon dioxide being carried by our red blood cells is exchanged for oxygen and once complete the blood enters the pulmonary veins and travels back to the heart.
The chamber which receives the freshly oxygenated blood from the lungs is the left atrium. This chamber then proceeds to pump blood into the left ventricle. In order for the blood to enter the left ventricle the mitral valve has to be open. Now once the blood enters the left ventricle, the mitral valve closes to again prevent back flow of blood when the left ventricle contract. Now sugar land chiropractors can tell you the left ventricle is the thickest muscle walled chamber of the heart. The reason for this is due to the left ventricle being required to pump the blood into the aorta and to the get this blood to the entire body. Now for the blood to get to the aorta the aortic valve needs to be open to allow blood through and then it closes. This is again to prevent back flow into the heart.
As for when these chambers contract, sugar land chiropractors know there is only two contraction phases in the heart. This muscle will work continuously for us until we die in this cycle, never stopping. When the atria, both the left and the right fill simultaneously, they will contract in unison. This again forces blood into the ventricles. Once the ventricles fill, the tricuspid and the mitral valves close while the pulmonary and aortic valves open the ventricles will contract in unison. Now while the ventricles are contracting the left and right atria are refilling with blood. This will allows them to contract once the ventricle is done contracting continuing the cycle.
Now some people may want to tie this into blood pressure readings so we will cover that briefly. Now the numbers for blood pressure have names. To sugar land chiropractors the top number is called the systolic blood pressure and the bottom number is called diastolic blood pressure. When the ventricles, and both the left and right ventricles contract simultaneously, this is the systolic blood pressure. What this means is this is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is pumping the blood through the body. This is why the systolic number is the higher number. Now when we read the diastolic number we read the pressure in the artery when the heart is quote unquote resting. This means the when the ventricles are not contracting, which is why the diastolic number is a lower number, typically. If we have a case where the systolic and diastolic numbers are close together, we have a problem.
Now to review the circulatory system quickly to tie in with the heart. We previously discussed the circulatory system as a closed system. What this means is that it is a continuous loop where the volume in the system is maintained. Now sugar land chiropractors can tell you there are systems in the body which move things in and out of the bloodstream on a regular basis. What I mean by the closed system is that the same blood which is pumped out the heart will make it way back around again for the lifespan of the red blood cell.
The pressures in the circulatory system fluctuate based on a few factors. We mention the ventricular contraction creating blood flow and in turn creating pressure. What can also happen is the diameter or how wide the blood vessel is can change. This is done in a process called vasodilation, meaning to get bigger, and vasoconstriction, meaning to become smaller. Based on the diameter of the blood vessel the pressure in the artery will change, which will influence the reading of your blood pressure.
Thank you for joining me again this evening for another great podcast. I hope you enjoyed the discussion on the anatomy of the heart. As always should you or someone you know require a sugar land chiropractors services or simply have more questions on what was discussed please call Restoration Health today. We would love to schedule you an appointment and get you on the path to better health today. Thank you once again for joining us. Have a good night.