The human heart and how it functions is another one of the greatest miracles of life. The normal human heart is just like a muscular pump that is very strong and constantly working, no bigger than your fist. The primary function of the heart is to keep your body moving by constantly pumping blood through your circulatory system.

Interesting Fact: Did you know that within the course of a day, the average heart pumps an amazing 2,000 gallons of blood or more while beating approximately 100,000 times? This equals more than 2.5 million beats in the average lifetime. Astounding, is it not?

The human heart is comprised of four chambers, the right and left atrium located in the upper region, and the right ventricle and left ventricle located in the bottom region. Here, in these chambers, is where the blood pumps through with a little bit of help from four heart valves which open and close letting blood flow in one direction. The four heart valves are the tricuspid valve, the pulmonary valve, the mitral valve and the aortic valve.

The tricuspid valve is situated in the middle of the right atrium and right ventricle. The pulmonary, or pulmonic valve is between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. The mitral valve is settled between the left atrium and left ventricle, while the aortic valve is between the left ventricle and the aorta.

When your blood has circulated through your entire body, it becomes low in oxygen and takes on a darkish blue color. Once it flows back to the heart through the veins, it enters the right atrium, which empties the blood through the tricuspid valve off into the right ventricle. The right ventricle then pumps the blood into the pulmonary valve into the pulmonary artery. From here on, the blood then finds its way into the lungs for a fresh dose of oxygen, turning it back to its bright red color.

This is a long and ongoing journey! Once the blood is refreshed, it returns to the pulmonary veins into the left atrium. It then passes through the mitral valve and enters the left ventricle for a trip out through the aortic valve on into the aorta. The ever-important aorta then sends the blood off through the general circulation of the body. Just a side note, the pressure found in the left ventricle is the same as the pressure, which is measured in your arm.

Your body contains about six quarts of precious blood. This blood travels through the body three times each minute! Over the course of a day, that is a traveling distance of about 12,000 miles, which is just amazing.

When most people think of the heart and its location, they think of the left side of their chest. However, the heart is actually located really close to the center of the chest between the lungs. Another misconception about the heart would be its size. When you are a child, your heart is about the same size as your fist. However, then you are an adult, it is just about the size of two adult fists.

Hearing about how important your heart is to you health and well-being you will want to be sure and take care of it to avoid some of the more common heart problems that affect society. A bit of the list of problems that the heart can develop is heart failure, coronary artery disease/myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation and mitral valve prolapse.

Some of the major risk factors for the listed heart problems, as well as all of the others, cannot be changed. These three factors are heredity, gender and age. However, there are many factors that you can control or change that can lessen your risks. Quitting smoking, lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and limiting stress can all help lessen your risks of heart problems. Controlling your weight and being sure to exercise can also help you maintain a healthy heart.

Whether you fall under any of the risk categories, it is always best to keep yourself on a healthy track to maintain a good environment within the body for your heart to be able to do its job. How the heart works is just completely amazing, and we should all try our best to take care of the one we have!