Curiosities about the heart

Every year on Sept. 29, World Heart Day is celebrated, the date on which we want to draw attention to the care of this vital organ. According to the Spanish Heart Foundation, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. It can be caused by countless factors, such as smoking, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, air pollution, or certain rare diseases such as cardiac amyloidosis and Chagas disease .

The recipe for captivating care of your heart includes eating right, increasing your physical activity (at least 30 minutes of energetic or moderate physical activity five times a week), and quitting smoking.

Here are some exciting facts about this amazing organ that beats in our chest without rest .

1. The human heart beats approximately 100,000 times a day.

The heart of an adult is 80 beats 60 times per minute. The newborn does it faster: 70 to 190 times per minute. It will also beat faster if we do sports instead of lying on the couch, to the point where we can reach 200 beats per minute .

 

2. The heart pumps about 8000 liters of blood.

Of these, 22% end up in the kidneys and 15% to 20% in the brain. The heart sends blood to all of our organs and tissues. However, there is a structure that does not accept blood and that is the cornea. If he reaches it, we cannot see, because he cannot allow the rays of light to penetrate the eye. It is the aqueous humor that provides the cornea with all the nutrients it needs .

 

3. The heart can weigh between 200 and 425 grams.

A human heart is the size of a large clenched fist. Men tend to have more than women. If a woman's heart weighs 230-280 grams, in men, 280-340 grams .

 

The largest heart in the animal kingdom is the heart of a blue whale, which weighs 680 kg and is the size of a man! The smallest are members of the Mymaridae family of wasps, and their average size is about 0.5 mm, so imagine the tiny heart they have.

 

4. Can hit outside the body

The human heart can keep beating for hours even outside the body. If this were not the case, the transplant would be impossible. The heart is an autonomous organ that can contract on its own because it is capable of generating electrical impulses and has special muscle cells.