The Heart — A Symbol And Its Function
March 20, 2018 at 12:35 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
Its earliest illustration was created around 1250 in France and somehow became associated with romance. The shape evolved during the 14th century, starting with images in the work of an Italian artist.
Anyone in love knows that your heart beats faster when you see someone who sparks your romantic interest. We see examples of the symbol everywhere from jewelry to emojis to Valentine's Day and beyond. The heart icon is everywhere. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the symbol's appeal is because its shape, with two halves forming a single figure, so perfectly captures the Platonic idea of love as the longing to merge with an ideal soul mate.
In truth, the heart looks nothing like its symbol. It is a lumpy muscular organ that functions as a circulatory pump for our body. It weighs around 11 ounces and takes in deoxygenated blood through the veins and delivers it to the lungs, where it gets rid of carbon dioxide and picks up fresh oxygen before pumping it into the various arteries. During an average lifetime, a heart pumps enough blood to fill 13 supertankers, each ship capable of holding 1 million barrels, each barrel containing 42 gallons of blood.
The heart sits between the lungs with its top tilted toward the right side of the body. Most of the heart consists of muscle, known in medical terms as the myocardium. The interior of the heart harbors two pairs of hollow chambers. Each pair contains a small antechamber — an atrium, or auricle — and a larger section called a ventricle.
As might be expected, understanding heart function is not simple, considering its criticality. The life of each of our 75 trillion cells depends on its uninterrupted beats. It was not until the third decade of the 17th century that William Harvey discovered that the heart really works as a pump and that veins contain valves that permit flow of the blood in a single direction.
How important is the heart? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year — 1 in every 4 deaths. It is the leading cause of death for men and women. More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were in men. Coronary heart disease kills 370,000 people annually; it is the most common type of heart disease. Moreover, every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first attack and 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities in the United States, including African-Americans, Hispanics and whites. For American Indians or Alaska natives and Asians or Pacific Islanders, heart disease is second only to cancer. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans have at least one of these three risk factors. Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can place people at a higher risk for heart disease, including diabetes, overweight and obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity and excessive use of alcohol.
We continue to learn more about other risk factors as well. While doctors routinely test for certain types of cholesterol, like high-density lipoprotein (the good), low-density lipoprotein (the bad), few test for lipoprotein (a), also known as Ip(a), high levels of which triple the risk of having a heart attack at an early age.
Lipoprotein was discovered in 1963, but no one knew precisely what purpose it serves in the body. It was thought to have a beneficial role in repairing injured cells, but it has been found to accelerate the formation of plaque in the arteries, which promotes blood clots. In a recent New York Times editorial, the author reported that few doctors know about Ip(a). The author suggested that testing for Ip(a) should be considered for people with an early onset of cardiovascular disease — younger than age 50 for men and age 60 for women — or a strong family history of it. Once Ip(a) is identified, physicians should mitigate its effects by aggressively lowering LDL cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing blood sugar, and encouraging healthy diets and exercise. Sound advice for all of us.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, will touch on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Latest News
E-Editions
Its earliest illustration was created around 1250 in France and somehow became associated with romance. The shape evolved during the 14th century, starting with images in the work of an Italian artist.
Anyone in love knows that your heart beats faster when you see someone who sparks your romantic interest. We see examples of the symbol everywhere from jewelry to emojis to Valentine's Day and beyond. The heart icon is everywhere. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the symbol's appeal is because its shape, with two halves forming a single figure, so perfectly captures the Platonic idea of love as the longing to merge with an ideal soul mate.
In truth, the heart looks nothing like its symbol. It is a lumpy muscular organ that functions as a circulatory pump for our body. It weighs around 11 ounces and takes in deoxygenated blood through the veins and delivers it to the lungs, where it gets rid of carbon dioxide and picks up fresh oxygen before pumping it into the various arteries. During an average lifetime, a heart pumps enough blood to fill 13 supertankers, each ship capable of holding 1 million barrels, each barrel containing 42 gallons of blood.
The heart sits between the lungs with its top tilted toward the right side of the body. Most of the heart consists of muscle, known in medical terms as the myocardium. The interior of the heart harbors two pairs of hollow chambers. Each pair contains a small antechamber — an atrium, or auricle — and a larger section called a ventricle.
As might be expected, understanding heart function is not simple, considering its criticality. The life of each of our 75 trillion cells depends on its uninterrupted beats. It was not until the third decade of the 17th century that William Harvey discovered that the heart really works as a pump and that veins contain valves that permit flow of the blood in a single direction.
How important is the heart? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year — 1 in every 4 deaths. It is the leading cause of death for men and women. More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were in men. Coronary heart disease kills 370,000 people annually; it is the most common type of heart disease. Moreover, every year about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 525,000 are a first attack and 210,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities in the United States, including African-Americans, Hispanics and whites. For American Indians or Alaska natives and Asians or Pacific Islanders, heart disease is second only to cancer. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease. About half of Americans have at least one of these three risk factors. Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can place people at a higher risk for heart disease, including diabetes, overweight and obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity and excessive use of alcohol.
We continue to learn more about other risk factors as well. While doctors routinely test for certain types of cholesterol, like high-density lipoprotein (the good), low-density lipoprotein (the bad), few test for lipoprotein (a), also known as Ip(a), high levels of which triple the risk of having a heart attack at an early age.
Lipoprotein was discovered in 1963, but no one knew precisely what purpose it serves in the body. It was thought to have a beneficial role in repairing injured cells, but it has been found to accelerate the formation of plaque in the arteries, which promotes blood clots. In a recent New York Times editorial, the author reported that few doctors know about Ip(a). The author suggested that testing for Ip(a) should be considered for people with an early onset of cardiovascular disease — younger than age 50 for men and age 60 for women — or a strong family history of it. Once Ip(a) is identified, physicians should mitigate its effects by aggressively lowering LDL cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing blood sugar, and encouraging healthy diets and exercise. Sound advice for all of us.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, will touch on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092