Functions of the Cardiovascular System

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Manoj Gurung

Functions of the Cardiovascular System 


The cardiovascular system has three major functions: transportation of materials, protection from pathogens, and regulation of the body’s homeostasis.

  • Transportation: The cardiovascular system transports blood to almost all of the body’s tissues. The blood delivers essential nutrients and oxygen and removes wastes and carbon dioxide to be processed or removed from the body. Hormones are transported throughout the body via the blood’s liquid plasma.
  • Protection: The cardiovascular system protects the body through its white blood cells. White blood cells clean up cellular debris and fight pathogens that have entered the body. Platelets and red blood cells form scabs to seal wounds and prevent pathogens from entering the body and liquids from leaking out. Blood also carries antibodies that provide specific immunity to pathogens that the body has previously been exposed to or has been vaccinated against.
  • Regulation: The cardiovascular system is instrumental in the body’s ability to maintain homeostatic control of several internal conditions. Blood vessels help maintain a stable body temperature by controlling the blood flow to the surface of the skin. Blood vessels near the skin’s surface open during times of overheating to allow hot blood to dump its heat into the body’s surroundings. In the case of hypothermia, these blood vessels constrict to keep blood flowing only to vital organs in the body’s core. Blood also helps balance the body’s pH due to the presence of bicarbonate ions, which act as a buffer solution. Finally, the albumins in blood plasma help to balance the osmotic concentration of the body’s cells by maintaining an isotonic environment.

The Circulatory Pump 
The heart is a four-chambered “double pump,” where each side (left and right) operates as a separate pump. The left and right sides of the heart are separated by a muscular wall of tissue known as the septum of the heart. The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the systemic veins and pumps it to the lungs for oxygenation. The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it through the systemic arteries to the tissues of the body. Each heartbeat results in the simultaneous pumping of both sides of the heart, making the heart a very efficient pump.

Hemostasis


Hemostasis, or the clotting of blood and formation of scabs, is managed by the platelets of the blood. Platelets normally remain inactive in the blood until they reach damaged tissue or leak out of the blood vessels through a wound. Once active, platelets change into a spiny ball shape and become very sticky in order to latch on to damaged tissues. Platelets next release chemical clotting factors and begins to produce the protein fibrin to act as structure for the blood clot. Platelets also begin sticking together to form a platelet plug. The platelet plug will serve as a temporary seal to keep blood in the vessel and foreign material out of the vessel until the cells of the blood vessel can repair the damage to the vessel wall.

Respiratory system

The respiratory system supplies the blood with oxygen, which is then distributed throughout the body by the circulatory system through the action of breathing; oxygen is brought into the body when a person inhales. The respiratory system also removes the poisonous gas carbon dioxide when a person exhales. Carbon dioxide and oxygen molecules are exchanged between the external environment and the blood by diffusion; this exchange happens in the lungs' alveolar region. The respiratory system's primary organs and anatomical features include the lungs, the airways - including the mouth, nose, and trachea - and the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles.

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The trachea is a tube which runs from the throat down into the chest cavity; within the chest, the trachea divides into two smaller tubes. These are the bronchi; these divide again, into the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes lead down into the lungs, where they split into many very small tubes which connect to tiny, air-filled sacs of spongy tissue (the alveoli). Most adults have around 600 million alveoli, which are surrounded by capillaries. Inhaled oxygen moves into the alveoli and diffuses into arterial blood through the capillaries; at the same time, the veins release carbon dioxide directly into ...

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