The Most Important Organ in the Human Body: The Heart

Human Heart

The Human Heart is probably the most important organ in the human body for many reasons. It is a muscular organ that is located slightly to the left behind the breast bone and is about the size of a fist. It pumps blood to the cardiovascular system through a network of arteries and veins within the body. It is made up of four separate chambers, the right atrium and ventricle, as well as the left atrium and ventricle. The right atrium receives blood from the veins and transfers it to the right ventricle, where it then pumps blood to the lungs to be loaded with oxygen. The left atrium receives the oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the left ventricle, which is the strongest chamber so that it can pump it throughout the body. The left ventricle is what creates our blood pressure as it pumps through the body. Blood pressure is the pressure at which blood is pumped against the artery walls. The coronary arteries provide oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle as they run along the surface of the heart. Surrounding the heart is a sac called the pericardium and that also holds a web of nerves that run through the heart that conduct complex signals to control contraction and relaxation of the heart (Hoffman 2014). This organ is critical for survival for many different reasons. The heart acts as the motor of the body, to provide other organs and our limbs with oxygen-rich blood. While the blood is pumped to the muscles, the muscles in turn create heat for our bodies on a cold evening. If our limbs didn’t have blood pumped to them, they wouldn’t be able to receive the required cells to stay alive, and they would slowly begin to die. White blood cells need to be pumped through the body as well to fight off infections and to keep injuries from getting worst. If it wasn’t for the heart, we couldn’t get blood to our brain or other organs that keep us alive. With no blood to the brain, we wouldn’t be able to think, and the nervous system would begin to die as well. It is by far the most important organ in our body for those reasons that were stated.

 The heart is a part of the muscular tissue system and is the cardiac type of muscle tissue. The heart is a cardiac muscle and it has short, branched, striated cells with one nucleus at the center of each cell. Intercalated discs are specialized communication junctions and they facilitate the heartbeat by sending the signal to contract and relax. They are formed from gap junctions and cell adhering proteins, where the knit cell membranes spread the contraction while also binding the cells closely together. The heart is a tissue that can be transplanted along with a couple of the other tissues. You can dissolve the heart into individual cells with something called trypsin, which is an enzyme that destroys the protein glue between the cells. At that point you can see cells called myocytes that will beat independently within the heart. A complex series of gates called ion channels open and close in an organized manner for a single cell beat. If the cells don’t touch each other their beats are proprietary to each and it is the gap junctions, or intercalated discs, that ensure the connected cells work as one. If they don’t beat in unison, heart murmurs can occur, where a pacemaker will need to be placed on the subject to makes sure it beats accordingly (Sullivan 2018). All these cells must work together to ensure a proper beating heart for our bodies.

Each organ requires different tissue types to work correctly because just like in any type of an eco-system setting, everything must work to complete the cycle. If the heart doesn’t work properly, it cannot pump blood to the lungs to be oxygenated so it can pump blood to the remainder of the body. Just as that, the lungs must work properly so that the blood originally can be oxygenated. With that, the smooth muscle, such as an artery must be able to carry the blood to and from the heart. Without proper transport of the blood, it will never reach its destination sufficiently. The connective tissue is there to keep everything in place so that the body can retain its integrity, and nothing can shift around too much. And the nervous tissue acts as a control center for all the works (Ireland 2018). For everything to work in unison, the nervous tissue must relay messages to each organ within the body. Tissues must be made up of different cell types because not one cell can do the job of many. Every cell must be present to keep the other cells in order, just like the components of a working gear clock, everything intertwines to reach a common group and that is functionality of the human body.

This is just some of the information pertaining to the Human Heart, that is such a complex organ within our bodies. The heart being a muscular tissue that provides blood to the entire body should be rated as one of the most powerful muscles in the body, because without it, none of the other muscles in our bodies would be proficient. Taking care of our hearts is one of the most important aspects to keep in mind. You can do this through a level of exercise and eating the right foods. Watching your weight and avoid putting too many toxins into your body can help promote proper heart health for a good long-lasting life. Myocardial infarction is something that kills a lot of adults now days, and it is something that is easily prevented if you supervise your cardiovascular system as you get further with age.

-Cyral I Callender III