Circulatory System
Posted by Patti on April 29th, 2005 / Print This Post
From this week’s Nursing Assistant Trainer Newsletter:
The circulatory system carries blood and lymph throughout your body. Lymph is a fluid created by lymph nodes that contains important substances, including disease fighting white blood cells. This week we’ll review important facts about the blood circulatory system.The two main parts of the circulatory system are the heart and the blood vessels. The heart is the pump that forces blood through the blood vessels. The circulatory system’s primary functions are to equalize the temperature of the body and carry nutrients and chemicals to its organs and tissues.
The human body has about five quarts of blood pumping through it at any time, and it takes about a minute for the circulatory system to carry all that blood throughout the body.
Blood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The red blood cells carry oxygen to the cells of the body and carry carbon dioxide away from the body’s cells, the white blood cells fight infections, and the platelets are involved in the clotting of the blood. The red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended in a substance called plasma. Blood cells are manufactured by the bone marrow.
Diseases and disorders of the circulatory system are the number one cause of death in the United States and include:
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Stroke
Heart disease
Kidney failure
Diseases of the blood and bone marrow
Leukemia
Hemophilia
Anemia
Thrombosis
Source:
from LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer. Property of HcPro, Inc.