The Heart & Circulatory System

Full transcript

Your heart is an incredible muscular pump sitting right in the center of your chest, beating about one hundred thousand times every single day to keep you alive. The heart has four chambers — two upper atria that receive blood, and two lower ventricles that powerfully pump blood out to the rest of your body. Blood travels away from the heart through thick vessels called arteries, carrying fresh oxygen-rich blood to every muscle, organ, and tissue throughout your entire body. After delivering oxygen, the now oxygen-depleted blood returns back to the heart through thinner vessels called veins, completing one full loop of the circulatory system. The lungs play a vital role too — the heart pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs, where it picks up fresh oxygen and releases carbon dioxide before heading back to the heart. Together, your heart, arteries, veins, and lungs form the circulatory system — a non-stop delivery network that keeps every cell in your body healthy and fully powered every moment of your life.