Heart

Bum bum, bum bum, that is the sound of your heart.

Your heart is located to the left of your chest. Its purpose is to get blood to your entire body. The heart is a muscle, which many people don't know.

Your heart is about the size of your fist, and is not in the normal heart shape.

The heart has four chambers filled with blood. Each side of the heart has 2 chambers. There's one in the top on each side and one on the bottom on each side. The top chambers are called atria. The atria are the chambers that fill up with blood that is coming back from the body and lungs. The bottom chambers are called the ventricles. Their job is to squirt out the blood to the body and lungs. Cutting the heart directly in half is a thick muscle called the septum. Its job is to keep the right side separate from the left side of the heart.

The atria and ventricles work together as a team to keep blood flowing in and out of the heart. As the atria fills with blood it then pours it into the ventricles. The ventricles then pumps blood out of the heart. The blood knows which way to go because there are valves that let the blood through but not back in, like a door. Vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries; the vessels that carry blood to the heart are called veins.

There are many heart diseases. Most of them are linked to obesity. One is called Heart disease, also called cardiovascular disease. Heart disease mainly affects older people and people with weight problems no matter how old they are. Heart disease means that there are problems with the blood vessels and heart. Heart disease is very common. Sixty one million Americans have heart disease. Some symptoms of heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chest pains, heart attacks, and strokes.

You can't catch heart disease, but there are things that raise people's chances of getting heart disease. Some risks you can't keep from happening like heredity of heart disease. Fortunately there are things you can do to lower the chances of heart disease. Some of the things you can do are: not smoke, exercise, watch your weight, and eat healthy.

Be sure to take care of your heart and stay healthy to keep your heart beating strong.