The healthy heartThe healthy heart is the engine of every life. It supplies the body with oxygen and nutrients via the blood. It transports waste products to the lungs and kidneys, as well as other organs, through which they are excreted. This is achieved by regularly contracting the heart by ca. 100 milliliters of blood per heartbeat into the large. Small body circulation to be pumped. The heart is slightly larger than a closed man's fist and weighs ca. 300 gram. It is located in the center of the chest behind the sternum and is slightly tilted to the left.
How is a heart built? The heart is a hollow organ. Consists mainly of muscle tie. The cardiac septum divides the heart into a left and a right hemisphere, which in turn are divided into a ventricle and an atrium. Between the atrium and the ventricle there is a movable valve which ensures that the blood only flows in one direction from the atrium into the ventricle. At the exit of the great ventricles are two other pocket valves, which also regulate the flow of blood into the systemic and pulmonary circulation. The heart beats sixty to ninety times in a minute and pumps the blood enriched with oxygen and nutrients into the organism.
The continuous heartbeat is ensured by electrical impulses that originate in the sinus node. It is a natural pacemaker of the heart. Sits at the roof of the right atrium. The electrical signals first activate the muscles of the atria, reach the AV node and, via an impulse conduction system, the ventricles, where they trigger a muscle contraction. This muscle contraction is the healthy heartbeat.
How a healthy heartbeat works?
A healthy heartbeat consists of two phases. In the filling phase (diastole), oxygen-poor blood initially flows from the systemic circulation into the right atrium, through the valve and into the right ventricle. At the same time, oxygen-rich blood flows from the lungs into the left atrium into the left ventricle. This is followed by the ejection phase (systole): the heart muscle contracts, the valves between the atria and the ventricles close, the prere inside the ventricles rises and the semilunar valves to the systemic and pulmonary circulation open. This causes the oxygen-depleted blood to be pumped out of the right ventricle and into the lungs. The oxygen-rich blood into the systemic circulation. While the ventricles are emptying, the atria are already filling up with new blood and the cycle starts all over again. The number of beats per minute at which blood is pumped into the body describes the heart rate.
The heartbeat – diastole and systole
You ask: is my resting pulse normal??
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How fast does a healthy heart beat?
The heart rate describes the number of measured beats per minute (bpm). It is a measure of the workload of the cardiovascular system.
Depending on whether the heart rate is low, normal or increased, a distinction is made between:
– Bradycardia: low heart rate – Normofrequency: normal heart rate – Tachycardia: increased heart rate
The heart rate depends on various factors, including age and physical condition.
At physical rest, the rate is also called resting pulse or resting rate and provides information about the state of the heart. The table below shows rough guide values for the resting pulse according to gender, age and physical fitness. If the measured value is not within the normal range, we recommend further examinations by a doctor.
Figure: resting heart rate for men, subdivided by age and physical fitness 1 .
Figure: resting heart rate for women, subdivided by age and physical fitness 1 .
The maximum pulse (maximum heart rate) is the rate reached under maximum endurance exercise. It is an individual value that decreases with age. It can be determined during a medical examination.
What is the relationship between heart rate and a healthy lifestyle??
If the heart rate is above the guideline values of the resting pulse, the heart muscle should be exercised. A high heart rate can be a sign of stress or poor physical condition. With the help of sports, a lot of exercise and a healthy diet, the circulation and thus the heart muscle can be trained. If the heart rate is persistently too high, in a few cases it can be a cardiac arrhythmia, z. B. Atrial fibrillation act. If this is not treated, it can promote a stroke.
If you start exercising, the heart rate can be used to determine the desired intensity or. heart load with regard to a training goal can be controlled. A training goal can be to strengthen the heart muscle and the whole body, for example after an operation. Here, a medical heart rate monitor helps to control the heart rate during sports in order not to exceed the load on the heart, especially for beginners. This is because the higher the physical stress, the more oxygen the body needs. The heart must now increase its rate in order to pump enough oxygen-rich blood into the body. In a trained athlete, the heart needs fewer beats to pump the same amount of blood through the circulatory system than in an untrained person.