Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular System

Cardiovascular System

• Cardiovascular system means the system of heart and blood vessels of human body.
• The term “cardiovascular” is a combination of two word; “Cardio” and “vascular”.
• The term “cardio” is derived from “cardiac” meaning Heart and the term “vascular” means blood vessels.
• So the name itself indicates that cardiovascular systems is the system of heart and blood vessels.
• Cardiovascular system is also known as “Circulatory System”.

Components Of Cardiovascular System:

Cardiovascular system is made up of three major components;

1.     Heart,

2.     Blood vessels and

3.     blood.

HEART

• Heart is a hollow muscular organ made of strong cardiac muscles.
• Heart can push the blood through the circulatory system with great force.
• In fact push of the heart is the major force that causes circulation of blood throughout human body.

Heart is made up of three layers;

1.     Pericardium,

2.     Myocardium and

3.     Endocardium.

BLOOD VESSELS

• Human beings have a closed type of circulatory system in which blood does not come in direct contact with body tissues.
• Instead the blood flows in restricted pathways called blood vessels.
• Materials are exchanged between blood and body tissues through the walls of blood vessels.
• Thus blood vessels are pathways of blood flow in human body. There are three main types of blood vessels;

1.     Arteries,

2.     Capillaries and

3.     Veins.

BLOOD

• Blood is a specialized tissue of body that exists in fluid form.
• It is one of the five basic types of tissues of human body.
• Blood consists of two major portions: Blood cells and Plasma.
• Plasma is the watery portion of blood that makes it a fluid.
• 90% of blood plasma is water and remaining 10% are proteins, inclusions and waste products etc.

Blood cells are of three main types:

1.     Red Blood Cells (RBCs),

2.     White Blood Cells (WBCs) and

3.     Platelets.

 

Importance of Cardiovascular System:

• Perfectly functioning Cardiovascular system is so important for human body, that if it stops for a minute, rapid death will occur.
• The flow of blood is necessary for existence of life.
• If the flow of blood is stopped, life will stop. 
• Heart is the main organ of cardiovascular system and it is responsible for distributing blood all over human body.