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Circulatory System

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9 views19 pages

Circulatory System

Uploaded by

singsonmariella62
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CIRCULATORY

SYSTEM
The circulatory system or
cardiovascular system is considered
as the main transport system of the
body. It is like a network of
highways that connects all the
organs of the body with one
another. It is responsible for the
transport of water, nutrients, and
oxygen to the body cells and carries
The circulatory system consists
of three major parts namely the
heart, the blood, and the blood
vessels Each part plays a major role
in transporting a variety of
materials throughout your body.
The HEART
Your heart is a specialized muscular
organ located in the middle of the
chest with its apex tilted to the left
side. It is approximately the size of
your clenched fist and weighs about
250-350 grams if you are an adult. It
is made up of very strong muscle
cells called pericardium. It has four
chambers: left and right auricles or
atria (singular, atrium) in the upper
The auricles are the receiving
chambers and the ventricles are the
pumping chambers. The ventricles
have thicker walls than the auricles
because the ventricles must pump
the blood inside
The
BLOOD
VESSELS
Blood vessels
The blood vessels are like roadways
of the body where blood passes
through. They are hollow tubes that
permit the blood to flow from the
heart to the body cells and then
back to the heart. There are three
kinds of blood vessels, namely
arteries, veins, and capillaries.
Arteries are blood vessels that carry
blood away from the heart to the
body cells. The biggest artery which
is connected to the heart is the
aorta. This branches out into
smaller arteries called arterioles. As
the heart pumps, it forcefully ejects
blood into the arteries. The arteries’
wall must expand to accommodate
the forceful pulse of the blood. That
From the arterioles, the blood is
pushed through the capillaries, the
narrowest and the most numerous
blood vessels. In the capillaries,
food nutrients and oxygen
molecules are transferred from the
blood to the cells of the body and
carbon dioxide and other wastes are
picked up. Capillaries have thin
walls which allow the food nutrients
As the blood picks up the wastes of
the body, it moves toward the heart
through the venules and veins. The
walls of veins are thin and slightly
elastic. There are two large veins
connected to the heart, superior
vena cava and inferior vena cava.
The vena cava is about 3 cm in
diameter. Like the heart, most veins
have internal one-way valves
Blood
Your body contains
approximately 5 liters of blood
depending on the size of your body.
It is about 9% of the body’s weight.
Blood is a protein – rich fluid
circulating in the body. It consists of
plasma and three blood cells. About
55% of the blood volume is blood
plasma which is a solution of 90%
Blood cells
1. Red blood cells (RBC) are tiny
biconcave disks. They are also
called erythrocytes. They are the
most abundant cells in the blood .
Each red blood cell contains an iron-
containing protein called
hemoglobin. Hemoglobin transports
oxygen from the lungs to the tissues
of the body and picks up carbon
Red blood cells have a short life
span of about 120 days. New red
blood cells are produced constantly.
They are produced in the red bone
marrow of flat bones such as ribs
ang long bones such as thigh bones.

White blood cells (WBC) or


leukocytes are generally larger and
less in number than red blood cells.
and destroy germs that enter the
body . During an infection, the body
produces more white blood cells.
During such time, some white blood
cells leave the bloodstream and go
to the site of infection forming pus.

Platelets or thrombocytes are the


smallest elements in the blood that
When there is a cut or damage in
the blood vessels, platelets release
a clotting protein into the blood that
initiates chemical reactions
resulting in the formation of a
protein called fibrin. Fibrin
separates into tiny threads that
interlace where the red blood and
plasma get entangled, forming a
jellylike, red mass called clot.

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