Heart Disease

1. How does the heart change as it develops in a fetus?

• In the first few weeks after conception the fetal heart occupies most of the fetus’ mid-section. The heart size to body size is about nine times is about nine times as big in the fetus then as an infant. At first the heart is just a tube. When the heart needs more space it starts to bend making the hearts shape. The next phase is when the atria have become separated. Finally, the ventricles separate.

2. What is the largest vessel that is attached to the heart, and what does it do?

• The arteries are the largest vessel that is attached to the heart and it carries blood away from the heart.

3. What is pulmonary circulation?

• Circulation of blood between the heart and the lungs

4. The sound you hear when you listen to your heart with a stethoscope is actually what?

• The opening and closing of the valves

5. Distinguish between systole and diastole phases of the heart.

• In the systole phase the ventricles contract and pump blood into the arteries. In the diastole phase of the heart the heart is relaxed and fills with blood.

6. Distinguish between an artery and a vein.

• An artery pumps blood in and out of the heart and a vein transport blood throughout the body.

7. What is a sphygmomanometer?

• A blood pressure meter

8. How is hypertension treated?

• Diet, medication and exercise

9. Name at least 3 risk factors for hypertension.

• Weight, smoking and stress

10. What is atherosclerosis?

• Hardening of the arteries

11. What is electrocardiography?

• A test that records the electrical activity of the heart.

12. Describe how angioplasty works?

• A procedure that opens narrow arteries.

13. Why are artificial hearts not an option for permanent replacement of a bad heart?

• The body would eventually reject it because it would think it was a foreign object or bacteria.

14. Name at least two symptoms of a heart attack....