This post is brought to you by the letter… “H” and the number 8

I am so excited to take part in this, my second, A – Z Challenge!  Last year I did the challenge using “recipes” as my inspiration.  Well, this year I’m going to draw on my nursing background and use “parts of the human body” as my inspiration!  Hmmm…a part of the body that starts with “Q”, “X” or “Z”….

It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone interprets the Challenge!

So, without further ado, “H” is for Heart:

The human heart is a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system.

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

It weighs between 7 and 15 ounces (200 to 425 grams) and is a little larger than the size of your fist.

Your heart is located between your lungs in the middle of your chest, behind and slightly to the left of your sternum {breastbone}.

The heart is divided into four chambers: the two upper chambers are called the left and right Atrium and two lower chambers are called the right and left Ventricle.

There is a thick wall of muscle separating the right side and the left side of the heart called the septum.

This image is from the World Invisible website.

With each beat the right ventricle pumps blood into the lungs {to be oxygenated}and the left ventricle pumps {oxygenated} blood out into the body.

Each day, the average heart beats 100,000 times, pumping about 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of blood.

“H” is also for: 

hair A threadlike appendage of the epidermis consisting of keratinized dead cells that have been pushed up from a dividing basal layer.

hand The terminal portion of the upper extremity, containing the carpal bones, metacarpal bones, and phalanges.

hard palate  The bony partition between the oral and nasal cavities, formed by the maxillae and palatine bones and lined by mucous membrane.

head The uppermost portion of a human that contains the brain and major sense organs.

hemoglobin  The pigment of red blood cells constituting about 33% of the cell volume that transports oxygen and carbon dioxide

hepatic duct  A duct formed from the fusion of several bile ducts that drain bile from the liver. The hepatic duct merges with the cystic duct from the gallbladder to form the common bile duct.

hormone  A chemical substance produced in an endocrine gland and secreted into the bloodstream to cause an effect in a specific target organ.

That is quite a few parts of the body that start with the letter “H”, but, there are even more!  Check them out at the McGraw-Hill Applied Biology Resource Center website.

The information contained in this post was obtained from Wikipedia Commons, Texas Heart Institute, Wikipedia and McGraw-Hill Applied Biology Resource Center.

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8 Responses to This post is brought to you by the letter… “H” and the number 8

  1. Oak Lawn Images says:

    Such important body parts, begin with the letter ‘H’. What a good description of the action of the heart, too. some of the other ‘H’s’ I’d forgotten about but remembered reading about. Thanks for the reminder.
    Kathy at Oak Lawn Images

  2. Monica says:

    Hi Kathy,

    I had to go with “heart” for the letter H…without it none of the other “H” parts would matter!
    Monica, Older Mommy Still Yummy

  3. Patricia says:

    I really like this post…it shows you sure put your “heart” into it!!! sorry, but I just couldn’t resist!! The illustrations are a large part of it for me as it is much easier to see what the words describe.
    Patricia, Sugar & Spice & All Things ? Nice

  4. Monica says:

    Good one!! Thanks Pat.

  5. Cindy says:

    I think I may use your posts as an anatomy lesson with my daughter :)

  6. Li @Flash Fiction says:

    This reminds me of a series that ran in Readers Digest when I was a kid – I Am Joe’s (fill in the body part). The human body is amazing, but especially the heart – it really is a powerhouse, pumping non-stop for up to 100+ years in some people.

    • Monica says:

      Li, you’re right …I had forgotten all about that series, but I remember reading it too!!