About Your Heart
The heart is the hardest working muscle in the
human body. It is near the center of your chest,
and it is about the size of a closed fist. Even when
you are at rest, your heart continues to work.
The function of your heart is to pump blood
containing oxygen and nutrients to the rest of your
body. Each day the average heart beats 100,000
times. The heart is made of 4 chambers. The top
2 chambers are called atria and they receive blood
into the heart; the bottom 2 chambers are called
ventricles and they pump blood out of the heart.
Blood moves to and from the heart through
a system of blood vessels.
It is a cycle
• The RIGHT ATRIUM receives blood from the
body. The blood is low in oxygen because it
has delivered its oxygen to your body.
• The RIGHT ATRIUM
sends blood into the
RIGHT VENTRICLE.
• The RIGHT VENTRICLE
squeezes the blood
out to the lungs to
pick up fresh oxygen.
Oxygen-rich blood
returns from the
lungs to the LEFT
ATRIUM.
• The LEFT ATRIUM
funnels the blood into
the LEFT VENTRICLE.
• The LEFT VENTRICLE
pumps the oxygenrich blood out to
deliver its oxygen to
your body.
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This is for education only. Ask your own doctor any questions you have about your health. © 2008 by Vanderbilt University.
All rights reserved. Vanderbilt Medical Center Patient & Family Centered Care HC-0018 06/09
About heart failure
What causes heart failure?
The term heart failure does not mean that the
Heart failure often develops after other condiheart has “failed” or stopped beating. Heart
tions have damaged or weakened the heart.
failure actually means that the heart muscle is Over time, the heart can no longer keep up
not pumping as well as it should. This results
with the normal demands you place on it.
in less blood, nutrients and oxygen going out
• The ventricles may become stiff and fail to
to your body.
fill properly.
Heart failure is not just a pump problem.
• The heart muscle may weaken.
It is also a hormonal
• The ventricles may
problem. Your body makes
stretch to the point that
Goals for your doctor's
hormones and other chemi- treatment plan for you
the heart can’t pump
cals to help correct for the
blood efficiently
• prevent the disease from
reduced blood flow to your
throughout the body.
getting worse quickly
body. These hormones help
The most common cause
• improve how you feel
at first, but over time they
of heart failure is ischemic
• possibly live a longer life
further weaken your heart.
heart disease. Ischemia is
Many of the medicines you
the medical term for lack
take block the harmful effects of these
of blood flow to the body. Examples of
hormones on your heart.
ischemic heart disease are coronary artery
About five million Americans have heart
disease and heart attack. These conditions
failure and over 550,000 new cases are diagdamage the heart muscle and can cause it to
nosed each year. Heart failure is a serious conweaken.
dition that doesn’t go away.
Patient & Family Centered Care HC-0018 06/09
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