Blood and Heart Systems







The blood is a liquid that carries nutrients digested from food and drink to the
various cells in the body, and which takes away waste products from the cells. It
also carries oxygen from the air to the cells of the body and takes away the waste
product carbon dioxide to be expelled through the lungs.
Blood contains four substances – plasma,
red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood
platelets.
Plasma is a yellow colour liquid which is
essentially water in which are dissolved a
number of materials. It contains nutrients
extracted from food digested such as fats,
proteins, vitamins, amino acids, glucose,
mineral salts, etc.. It also contains hormones
and waste products from cells. Antibodies
are present in it which help to fight disease,
as are materials such as fibrinogen and
prothrombin which help blood to clot.
Red blood cells are produced by a substance
called marrow which is contained within
bones, and they contain a red colour ironbased material called haemoglobin. The haemoglobin enables the blood to absorb
oxygen from the air breathed into the lungs which is then carried around in the
blood system to feed the oxygen to all the cells of the body. The oxygen is also
needed to release energy from food as it is processed by the cells. As the life span
of a red blood cell is only about 3 or 4 months, the bone system is constantly
producing new red blood cells.
White blood cells do not contain haemoglobin, hence their lack of red colour.
White cells called phagocytes are produced by the marrow in the bone structure
whilst other another kind of white blood cell called lymphocytes are produced by
the lymph glands. White cells are important for our health as they attack foreign
bodies such as bacteria which have entered the physical body. There is usually 1
white blood cell for every 700 red blood cells.
Blood platelets help in the clotting of the blood and are produced by bone
marrow. If there is a physical injury to the body which results in bleeding, the
platelets accumulate at the point of bleeding and seal up the wound to prevent loss
of blood. Without this, a person could bleed to death.
There about around 8 pints / 4.5 litres of blood in the average adult human body.
Blood is carried around the body in a system of blood vessels. Arteries are blood
vessels that carry blood away from the heart, and veins are blood vessels that
carry blood back to the heart from the cells. Capillaries are very fine blood vessels
that link arteries and veins. The body is dependent upon the muscular system of
the heart to support the circulation of the blood. Inside the heart are four hollow
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
chambers, within each of which is a little pump. The pumps push blood all around
the body. The two upper chambers are called the auricles or atria, and the two
chambers beneath them are called the ventricles. The heart is effectively split into
two by a wall of muscle, both left and right sides of the heart having an auricle
and a ventricle. Blood is received into the auricles, and expelled in a pumping
motion by the heart muscles through the ventricles. Blood containing oxygen
absorbed through the lungs is brought into the left auricle through what are called
the pulmonary veins, and then pumped onwards out through the left ventricle.
Blood which has already circulated through the body and is now deoxygenated
enters the right auricle, and is pumped onwards to the lungs through the right
ventricle. By having separate left and right sides, the heart does not get fresh
oxygenated blood mixed up with used deoxygenated blood.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com

The diagram on the left
shows how the blood moves
around the body. The red
blood
represents
fresh
oxygenated blood whilst the
blue blood represents used
and deoxygenated blood.
The brown coloured sack in
the chest area represents the
heart. The blood circulates
around the area of the lungs
as you have already read
about. Please note also how
the blood circulates around
the area in the middle/lower
abdomen
which
has
important parts of the
digestive
and
urinary
systems, brief descriptions
of
which
follow
in
subsequent sections.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
The Lymphatic System

Linked to the
blood circulation
system
is
the
lymphatic system.
As discussed in the
last section, blood
is pumped out of
the heart into the
arteries which take
it around the body.
At the end of the
arteries are very
fine blood vessels
called capillaries
into which the
blood flows to
reach the body
cells. The pressure
of the blood at the
end
of
the
capillaries is so
high
that
it
squeezes some of
the constituents of
the blood through
the very fine walls
of the capillaries
into the spaces
between the body
cells. The plasma
in the blood flows
through the capillary walls to take nutrients to the body cells as do the white
blood cells which are always on the lookout for foreign organisms attacking the
cells. The red blood cells are too large to pass through the capillary walls and
continue to flow through the capillaries until they find their way into the network
of veins. The blood platelets will continue to flow along with the red blood
vessels unless there is a wound in a particular vicinity. To prevent too much fluid
being lost from the blood as the plasma is forced out through the capillary walls, it
is collected back in a network of very fine lymphatic vessels from which it returns
into the blood system (then called lymph fluid). The lymphatic vessels connect
into each other to become larger and larger lymphatic vessels, and eventually
come together into two big ducts, the thoracic duct and the smaller right
lymphatic duct.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com




Within the lymph system are a number of lymph glands or lymph nodes. These
glands produce antibodies that help to fight against disease organisms invading
the body tissues. As the lymph fluid flows through these glands, they filter off the
organisms so that they can be ingested by the antibodies.
The spleen is part of the lymph system and is one of the glands that produces
antibodies and lymphocyte white blood cells. The blood in the main blood stream
is routed through the spleen, from where it is subject to the purification action of
the antibodies and picks up the white blood cells. It then flows on to the liver.
The spleen also takes in and breaks down those worn out white and red blood
cells and blood platelets which are at the end of their useful life. These are then
taken in the blood stream to the liver where they are processed further.
When the embryo is growing in the womb of the mother, the spleen manufactures
red blood cells. After birth, this role switches to the marrow in the bones.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
The Digestive System
 We all have to eat food to live.
Food provides the nutrients to keep
cells alive and for new cells to grow.
The processing of food inside us gives
us the energy which is needed to
support our day to day living and
activities. Our bodies extract what
they need from the food that we eat
through the digestive system, from
which the blood system takes the food
to the cells of the body.
 The food that we eat is in a
form which does not enable it to be
absorbed easily by the body.
Consequently, the digestive system
has its own processes to breakdown
the food so that our bodies can extract
what is needed from it.
 The human digestive system essentially is a long tube of approximately 30 feet/ 9
metres. Food is processed initially in the mouth, with our saliva softening up food so that
the teeth and tongue can break it up as it is chewed. We then swallow the food down the
central pipe of the oesophagus and it enters the stomach. The human stomach contains
enzymes (chemicals) and an acid which starts to work on the food received into the
stomach and breaks it down into a kind of rough paste. This paste form enables the food
to be passed bit by bit into the next part of the digestive system called the small intestine
which is approximately 20 feet/ 6 metres long. The tubing of the small intestine is
‘folded’ up in the lower abdomen area as shown in the diagram above. The food gets
broken down even further
within the small intestine
until it is fine enough to pass
through the walls of the small
intestine
into
the
bloodstream. The liver, gall
bladder and pancreas are
ancillary digestive organs
linked to the duodenum
which is the top part of the
small intestine. The liver
manufactures a chemical
called bile which is then
stored in the gallbladder. The
gallbladder releases small
amounts of bile into the
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
duodenum. The bile gets mixed into the
food there and breaks out the fat from
the food so that the fat can be absorbed
into the bloodstream. The pancreas
releases a digestive chemical into the
duodenum which also gets mixed into
the food there and which helps to release
carbohydrates from foods such as rice
and bread and potatoes so that they can
be absorbed into the bloodstream. The
digestive chemical from the pancreas
also helps to release proteins from foods
such as meats and cereals so that they
can be absorbed into the bloodstream. In
the walls of the small intestine are the
villi which are tiny tubes that hold blood
vessels. It is through these that the food
passes as it is absorbed into the blood vessels before being taken around the body in the
blood. Food that cannot be digested or is not needed for the body in the small intestine is
passed into the large intestine from where any water and minerals in it are absorbed into
the blood stream through the walls of the large intestine. The large intestine prepares the
remnants of the food that we do not need so that it can be released subsequently released
from the body through the rectum
and anus as faeces.
 The liver is the largest and
heaviest organ in the body, and
consists of two lobes or sections. It
receives flows of blood from both the
heart and from the portal vein. Blood
in the portal vein contains food from
the intestines which is processed
further as it passes through the liver
before flowing around the body
within the bloodstream.
1. Firstly, the liver acts as an
organ
of
chemical
detoxification. It works on a
number of substances which
are poisonous to the body
such as alcohol and drugs and
modifies them chemically
into less poisonous or toxic
forms so that they can eventually be released from the body through the urinary
system. Each liver has a limit on its processing capacity for poisonous substances.
If the intake of poisonous substances is more than the liver has the capacity to
cope with, then the liver can become damaged through overstress and the
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
poisonous substances can be passed around the body without being processed into
less harmful forms, resulting in poisoning of the body.
Secondly, the liver stores sugar extracted from carbohydrate based food in the
form of a substance called glycogen. When the level of sugar in the blood stream
is low, glycogen in the liver is converted into glucose and released into the blood
stream. Later in this Chapter we look at the need of body cells to obtain energy
from food in the bloodstream – glucose is the energy containing substance which
they can absorb and process further.
Thirdly, the liver processes protein from amino acids absorbed from the intestines
into forms which can be used more easily by the body. The liver converts excess
protein into urea which is eventually released from the body through the urinary
system.
Fourthly, the liver has an important role in the metabolism of fats, vitamins and
hormones.
Fifthly, the liver has a role in manufacturing agents which support the clotting of
blood from the food passing through it.
If the liver is not functioning correctly or is diseased, symptoms such as low
blood sugar and protein levels, and hormonal disturbance may result. If the liver
is not able to produce blood clotting agents adequately, a person might suffer
from bleeding.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
 The human body needs insulin to get the glucose into the body cells where it can
be used. The hormone insulin is secreted via the portal vein into the liver, from where it
enters the blood stream. If the body has inadequate levels of insulin, the body cells are
unable to get enough glucose and consequently enough energy. This causes health issues
as the body cells try to obtain the energy that they need from fats and from proteins.
Difficulties with the level of insulin in the body create the medical condition diabetes,
which can be treated with the injection of external sources of insulin into the body. If not
managed correctly, incorrect insulin levels in the bloodstream can result in conditions
such as eye disease, kidney disease, nerve disease, disease of the circulatory system,
feelings of tiredness, and excessive urinary activity.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com
The Urinary System





The blood contains waste
products from the metabolism
of the body cells as the food
and oxygen is processed.
 The blood also contains waste
products from the liver. The
liver breaks down protein and
nitrogenous compounds in a
process called deamination,
producing a nitrogenous
liquid waste product called
urea. It also further processes
the old and broken down
blood cells which have
already been processed by the
spleen. The liver works to
remove potentially dangerous
chemicals from the blood
supply, resulting from intake
of substances such as alcohol and drugs. In the case of a person who is heavily
addicted to alcohol or to drugs, the liver is likely to be have to work excessive
overtime to remove all the dangerous intake which can result in a worn out liver
or can result in a liver which accumulates chemicals at a rate faster than it can
process, thereby resulting in liver disease. The liver is also connected with the
maintenance of the glucose (sugar) level in the blood. If there is too much glucose
in the blood system, insulin will trigger the liver to remove glucose from the
bloodstream and to store it. If there is too little glucose in the bloodstream, the
hormone glucagon will trigger the liver to release some of its store of glucose into
the blood stream. The liver releases the urea and the by-products of blood cell
breakdown, chemical processing and glucose level management back into the
bloodstream.
The urinary system of a human consists of two kidneys, two ureters, one urinary
bladder and one urethra. Each kidney is linked to the blood system by the renal
artery and the renal vein. Waste products from the blood including those from the
liver are filtered through thousands of sub-filters in the kidneys called nephrons.
They are then passed in a liquid called urine down the ureter tubes into the urinary
bladder. When the bladder is full of urine, a sphincter muscle relaxes and allows
the urine to be passed out of the body via the urethra tube out through the penis or
vagina.
A person’s blood passes through the kidneys 300 times a day.
Every day the nephrons send about six cups of urine to the bladder.
Urine is approximately 96% water, 1.8% mineral salts, 2.0% urea and 0.2% other
nitrogenous substances.
www.healingenergies-at-londonwest.com