CIRCUL ATORY

SYSTEM
BIOLOGY CHAPTER 6 TERM 1 ST 1
HUMAN CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• The transport of nutrients and oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide and metabolic
wastes is carried out through blood by the blood vessels.
• The circulatory system comprises of heart , blood and the blood vessels which circulates
throughout the body , thereby helping in transport of oxygen , nutrients , and oxygen.
• Transportation is mainly carried out by blood and lymph.
• Blood is transported to all the parts of the body by a pumping organ – heart – through the
blood vessels.
• Lymph is transported by the lymph vessels which run along side the blood vessles of the
circulatory system .
FLUIDS IN OUR BODY

• Blood : it is contained in the heart and the blood vessels [ arteries , veins , capillaries ] of the
circulatory system .
• Tissue fluid : it occupies the space between the individual cells of the body and is also known
as interstitial fluid .
• Lymph : it is contained within the lymph vessels and the lymphatic organs .
• Our body circulates in a closed manner i.e all time through blood vessels and such type of
circulatory system is called clones vascular system. In certain animals like insects the blood
mainly flows through open spaces . Such circulatory system is called opened vascular system .
• Circulatory system also helps in maintaining body temperature, protecting from certain
diseases and regulating the activities of the body by the transporting hormones.
DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF
BLOOD AND LYMPH CIRCULATION
HEART – THE PUMPING ORGAN
• The size of the heart is the size of the ones folded fist and it weighs 225 – 340 grams .
• Location : it is located in the centre of the chest cavity and its tip slightly tilts towards the left
side .
• Enclosed : the heart is protected within a protective double layer membrane called
pericardium . The space between the two layer or the membranes is filled with the pericardial
liquid which prevents the heart from jerks , shocks and mechanical stress.
• Main function : is to receive and pump blood and to keep circulating the blood in the body
through blood vessels.
• Chambers : internally the heart is divided vertically into a left and a right portion by a
membrane or septum . Each half is further divided horizontally into two chambers , two upper
and two lower . The upper chamber is called auricle and the lower chamber is called ventricle .
Therefore heart has 4 chambers in all.
• Auricles are called the receiving chambers as they receive blood from different parts of the
body . They are smaller and have thin walls.
HEART – THE PUMPING ORGAN
• Ventricles are called the distributing chambers as they pump blood from the heart into the
lungs and blood vessels that distribute blood throughout the body .Ventricles are bigger in size
and have thick walls and elastic and muscular to pump blood efficiently to different part of the
body.
• The right auricle opens into right ventricle , the opening is guarded by tricuspid valve [ having
three cusps or flaps ]
• Opening between the left auricle and the left ventricle is guarded by the bicuspid valve [ having
two cusps or flaps ] . These valves regulate blood flow from auricle into ventricle in one
direction .
• The blood flows from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery and from the left ventricle
into the aorta [ largest artery ] . The flow of blood from the ventricle into these two artery is
also regulated by the valves . Theses valves are called semi lunar valves as they resemble half
moon. These are present at the opening where the pulmonary artery and the aorta leave the
right and the left ventricle respectively. They make sure that the blood does not flow back into
the ventricles .
HEART DIAGRAM
PACEMAKER
• Heart is a muscular organ made up of cardiac muscles . These muscles show contraction and
relaxation without any rest throughout the lifetime of the person . It is a result of an electrical
impulse originated by a node called the sinoatrial node or the SA node . The node is located
int the upper right corner of the right auricle and is responsible for setting a rhythm for the
contractions and relaxations of the heart or simply HEART BEAT . Hence its also called the
natural pacemaker of the heart .
• Sometimes a mechanical device called artificial pacemaker is placed surgically in humans if their
SA node is damaged or if the electrical conduction of the system of the heart has problems .
BLOOD VESSELS
• Arteries : they carry blood away from the heart to different body parts .
• Veins : they carry blood towards the heart from the different body parts .
• Capillaries : these are the finest blood vessels in the body interconnecting the arteries and the
veins . These are the principal sites where the exchange of water , oxygen , carbon dioxide and
many other nutrients and waste substance between the blood and blood tissues take place .
BLOOD VESSELS OF HEART
• Vena cavae : these are the two large veins bringing deoxygenated blood to the right auricle .
Superior vena cava brings in deoxygenated blood from the upper parts of the body such as
head and shoulders . The inferior vena cava brings in deoxygenated blood from the lower body
parts such as trunks and the legs.
• Pulmonary veins : they bring in oxygenated blood from the right and left lungs . These veins
open into left auricle .
• Pulmonary trunk : it arises from the right ventricle carrying deoxygenated blood to the lungs
for the oxygenation. [ the pulmonary trunk branches into a left and right pulmonary artery
each going to respective lungs ]
• Aorta : leaves the left ventricle carrying the oxygenated blood to all body parts through its
branches .
• Coronary artery : it distributes the oxygenated blood to the walls of the heart . It is a branch
of the aorta .
• Coronary veins : they bring deoxygenated blood from the walls of the heart and pour it into an
opening in the right auricle .
BLOOD GROUPS
• Karl Landsteiner in 1900 identified different types of blood groups in humans .
• The blood of A group can be given to a person with A and AB group .
• The blood of B group can be given to a person with B and AB group .
• The blood of AB group can be given to a person with A and B group .
• The blood of O group can be given to all people with any group as blood group O person is a
universal donor .
• The blood of AB group can receive the blood of any blood group as it is the universal recipient.
BLOOD CIRCULATION
1. The deoxygenated blood from different parts of the body is received in the right auricle .
Simultaneously, the oxygen – rich blood returning from the lungs is received in the left
auricle .
2. The right auricle contracts and pumps the deoxygenated blood into right ventricle .
Simultaneously, the left auricle contracts and pours oxygenated blood into the left ventricle .
3. The atrio – ventricular valves close with a sound when the ventricle are full [ end of an
auricular contraction ] . At the same time the semi – lunar valves open .
4. The right ventricle begins to contract . The deoxygenated blood is pushed into the
pulmonary artery , which transports this blood to the lungs for oxygenation. Similarly , the
left ventricle contracts and oxygenated blood is pumped into the aorta with great pressure
because the blood has to reach all parts of the body .
5. The semi – lunar valves close with a sound when the blood in the ventricles has been
pushed into the arteries [ end of the ventricular contraction ] .
BLOOD CIRCULATION
• When heart chambers relax – they filled with blood and when they contract – blood is pushed
out of them . Both auricles contract and relax together . Both ventricles contract and relax at
the same time. .
• The contractions of the auricles is quickly followed by the contractions of the ventricles . This
goes on in a rhythmic manner , about 72 times per minute .
• The right half of the heart [ ie the right auricle and the right the ventricle ] receives
deoxygenated blood while the left half [ ie the left auricle and the left ventricle ] receives
oxygenated .
• The blood on the right side of the heart never mixes with that on the left side .
WORKING OF HEART
DOUBLE CIRCULATION
• The blood flows through the heart twice to complete one full circulation throughout the body.
1. At first , blood flows from the right side of the heart to the lungs and then returns to the left
side of the heart [ pulmonary circulation ] .
2. The second time , the blood flows from the left side of the heart to all body parts and then
returns to the right side of the heart [ systemic circulation ] .
• Blood passes twice through heart , once when its deoxygenated and then after getting
oxygenated – double circulation .
TISSUE FLUID
• As the blood flows in the capillaries of the tissues , the plasma and the leukocytes leak out
through their walls and bathes the cells .
• The tissue is called tissue / intercellular / extra cellular fluid .
• It is from this fluid that the cell absorb oxygen and other required substances , and in turn ,
give out carbon dioxide and other wastes back into it .
LYMPH AND LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
• Some of the tissue fluid maybe reabsorbed into blood vessels, but most of it enters into
another set of minute channels named lymph vessels and in then called lymph .
• The lymph flows in these vessels due to contraction of the surroundings muscles . The lymph
vessels on the way drain lymph into lymph nodes from where fresh lymph channels arise .
These channels ultimately pour the lymph into the major anterior veins close to their entry
into the right auricle .
• The lymphatic system consists of lymphatic organs , such as the spleen and the tonsils , a
conducting network of lymph vessels and the circulating lymph .
COMPOSITION OF LYMPH
• It is composed of cellular part and non cellular part .
• Cellular part : it contains only leukocytes ( mostly lymphocytes ) . Blood platelets or red blood
cells are absent.
• Non cellular part : it is made up of mostly [ about 94% ] and the rest is made of protein ,
carbohydrates , fats , enzymes , antibodies , etc. [ about 6 % ] .
FUNCTIONS OF LYMPH
• Nutritive : it supplies nutrition and oxygen to those parts where blood cannot reach .
• Drainage : it drains away excess tissue fluid and metabolites and returns proteins to the blood
from tissue spaces .
• Absorption: fats in the intestine are absorbed through lymph vessels to lymphatics .
• Defence : lymphocytes and monocytes of the lymph function to protect the body . The
lymphatics also remove bacteria from the tissue . We often experience painful swellings in our
groins or in the axils of our arms when we get a boil or injury in the limbs . This is a protective
sign . The lymph nodes present in these regions tend to localise the infection and prevent it
from spreading to the body as a whole .
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LYMPH AND
BLOOD
BLOOD BANKS AND DONATION
• Blood donation is a voluntary procedure where blood is drawn from a healthy person called
‘donor’ , so that it can be given to someone who needs it during a surgery or a medical
treatment .
• Normally a pint of blood [ 420 ml ] is withdrawn from a donor at a given time .
• Blood bank : a place where the blood collected from donors , is stored and preserved to be
later given to a recipient as and when needed .
HEART – RELATED CONDITIONS
• Palpitations :
• Sometimes , one may experience the heart beating too hard to too fast or sometimes even
skipping a beat.
• This can be frightening , but not serious or harmful and often this condition goes away on its
own .
• Most of the time it is caused by stress or anxiety . Sometimes certain types of food also may
cause palpitations.
• In rare cases , palpitations may be an indication of a more serious heart condition , specially if it
is accompanied by shortness of breath , dizziness or chest pain .
• Hypertension :
• This is the condition that occurs in a person when blood flows through the blood vessels with
a force greater than normal . This is also called high blood pressure . Hypertension can strain
the heart , damage blood vessels and increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke.