When your heart functions normally, all four chambers work together in a continuous and coordinated effort to keep oxygen-rich blood circulating throughout your body. Your heart has its own electrical system that coordinates the work of the heart chambers heart rhythm and also controls the frequency of beats heart rate. The task of your heart is to pump enough blood to deliver a continuous supply of oxygen and other nutrients to the brain and the other vital organs.
To do this, your heart needs to:. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Rakesh K. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
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Please turn on JavaScript and try again. Important Phone Numbers. Top of the page. A series of valves control blood flow in and out of these chambers. Electrical impulses, controlled by the cardiac conduction system , make the heart muscle contract and relax, creating the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat. Arteries generally transport oxygen-rich blood. The pulmonary artery is unique: It is the only artery in the human body that carries oxygen-poor blood.
It would be like pumping up a flat tire with a huge hole in it: No matter the effort you put into pumping, the tire would never inflate. In the case of the heart, blood would come into the chamber and just slosh through it, exiting out the valve at the bottom or upward in the wrong direction each time the ventricle tried to pump blood. All four of the heart valves open and close at just the right times to keep the blood flowing through the heart in the right direction.
Part of the sound of your heartbeat is valves closing. A healthy heart normally beats anywhere from 60 to 70 times per minute when you're at rest. This rate can be higher or lower depending on your health and physical fitness; athletes generally have a lower resting heart rate, for example. Your heart rate rises with physical activity, as your muscles consume oxygen while they work.
The heart works harder to bring oxygenated blood where it is needed. Disrupted or irregular heartbeats can affect blood flow through the heart. This can happen in multiple ways:. If you experience an irregular heartbeat or cardiac symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath, seek medical help immediately.
Healthy blood flow is critical to overall health. Physical activity is one of the best ways to achieve and maintain optimal functioning of your heart and lungs. If you have health issues, partner with your healthcare provider on the best way to keep your heart rate and rhythm—and therefore, your blood flow—healthy. It's one of the most important things you can do for a long life. Blood moves in two directions simultaneously.
De-oxygenated blood enters the right side of the heart and is pumped towards the lungs to pick up oxygen. Then that oxygen-rich blood re-enters the heart on the left side and is pumped out to the cells of the body. Physical exertion will force your heart to beat faster and raise your heart rate. Blood flows through your heart and lungs in four steps:. The left and right atria are smaller chambers that pump blood into the ventricles.
The left and right ventricles are stronger pumps. The left ventricle is the strongest because it has to pump blood out to the entire body.
When your heart functions normally, all four chambers work together in a continuous and coordinated effort to keep oxygen-rich blood circulating throughout your body. Your heart has its own electrical system that coordinates the work of the heart chambers heart rhythm and also controls the frequency of beats heart rate.
The task of your heart is to pump enough blood to deliver a continuous supply of oxygen and other nutrients to the brain and the other vital organs. To do this, your heart needs to:.
Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Rakesh K. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
This video describes how blood flows in and out of the heart. Blood enters the heart through two large veins — the posterior inferior and the anterior superior vena cava — carrying deoxygenated blood from the body into the right atrium. Blood flows from the right atrium into the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. When the ventricle is full, the tricuspid valve shuts to prevent blood flowing backwards into the atrium. Blood leaves the heart through the pulmonic valve into the pulmonary artery and flows to the lungs.
Blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricle through the open mitral valve.
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