Cardiovascular System Flashcards
What is the Cardiovascular System?
The body’s transport system – including the heart and blood vessels. During exercise, an efficient CV system is so important to deliver oxygen to working muscles.
What are the chambers of the Heart?
The septum divides the heart into left and right.
Each side contains an atrium and ventricle.
The atria are smaller as they only push the blood to the ventricles – their muscular wall is thinner.
Ventricles have thicker walls as they contract with greater force to push blood out of the heart.
The left side is larger as it sends blood to the whole body whereas the right side pumps deoxygenated blood a short distance to the lungs.
What are the blood vessels of the Heart?
The vena cava brings deoxygenated blood to the right atrium.
The pulmonary vein delivers oxygenated blood to the left atrium.
The pulmonary artery leaves the right ventricle with deoxygenated blood to go to the lungs.
The aorta leaves the left ventricle with oxygenated blood leading to the body
How many valves are there in the Heart and what do they do?
There are 4 main valves and they regulate blood flow by ensuring blood travels in one direction.
They open to allow blood to pass through and close to prevent back flow
What is the cardiac conduction system?
A group of specialised cells located in the wall of the heart that send electrical impulses to the cardiac muscle causing it to contract
What is SAABPV?
Obviously SAAB’s are perfectly valuable so its the:
SA Node
Atrial Systole
AV Node
Bundle of His
Purkinje Fibres
What does Systole mean?
When the heart contracts/the chambers empty
What does Diastole mean?
When the heart relaxes/the chambers fill
What does Myogenic mean?
The beat starts in the heart muscle itself
What is the role of the Sympathetic Nervous System?
Stimulates the heart to beat faster
What is the role of the Parasympathetic Nervous System?
Returns the heart to its resting rate.
What are the two parts that make up the nervous system?
Central nervous system = brain and spinal chord
Peripheral nervous system = nerve cells that transmit information to and from the CNS
This is coordinated by the medulla oblongata in the brain
What are the three factors that can affect the rate at which the cardiac impulses are fired?
Chemoreceptors, Baroreceptors and Proprioceptors
What are Baroreceptors?
Baroreceptors monitor blood pressure and lower heart rate when it gets too high
What are Chemoreceptors?
Chemoreceptors monitor the blood acidity levels and when the level of CO2 gets too high it increases heart rate
