Cardiovascular System | Essay

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 1
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
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CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 2
Introduction
The cardiovascular system(CS) is also referred to as the circulatory system. It is a
system within the body that moves gases, nutrients, and waste materials from one cell
to another. The circulatory system also plays a role in transporting blood and even
fighting off diseases that infect the body (AlMomani et al., 2012). The circulatory
system consists of various organs and cells. The system is made up of blood, blood
vessels and the heart. The heart is made up of several parts that are important in the
circulation of blood and nutrients throughout the body. The CS has two circuits which
include the pulmonary and the systematic. This paper, therefore, aims at discussing
how the cardiovascular system is structured. The document also discusses the function
of every part of the system and how they are adopted to perform their functions.
One of the most critical components of the circulatory system is blood. Blood is
circulated throughout the body through a network of vessels. Blood is made of
approximately 45% solids, and 55% is fluid (Roubille et al.,2013). One of the
functions of blood in the circulatory system is circulation of oxygen. It also
eliminates carbon dioxide from various cells and tissues in the body. Blood also
supplies cells with nutrients that are absorbed into the body to help in carrying out
metabolical processes. Another function of blood is that it transports waste materials
from the body to the excretory organs so that it can be disposed of from the body. The
other roles of blood in the body include protecting the body against infections,
stopping clotting, transportation of hormones, and regulating body temperatures.
The heart is made up of muscles and tissues, and it beats more than 99,000 times
within 24 hours (González‐Alonso, 2012). The heart is segmented into two. The right
side receives blood and pumps it to the lungs so that it can be oxygenated.

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM 3
The pulmonary circuit is one of the essential components of the circulatory system. It
carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs (Xia et al., 2012). Once the
blood receives oxygen, the pulmonary circuit carries the blood to the heart. This
process is referred to as pulmonary circulation. The heart is made of four chambers,
namely; the right and left atria and the ventricles of the left and right side (Yue et al.
2015). During the process of pulmonary circulation, blood without oxygen enters the
heart on the right side. The right ventricle circulates blood to the heart through the
pulmonary artery. The pulmonary trunk is the largest pulmonary artery while the
arterioles are the smallest. The blood is taken to the capillaries once it leaves the
pulmonary artery. The capillaries are small vessels of blood which joins the arteries
and the veins. Capillaries are classified into three, namely fenestrated; capillaries,
continuous and discontinuous capillaries. The fenestrated capillaries have many pore
of varying sizes. They are mainly found in the small intestines where their primary
function is to allow food molecules that have been digested to enter the bloodstream.
The continuous capillaries have junctions that are tight to make them impermeable to
only the smallest particles.
Most of the blood capillaries in the brain are continuous. They help in exchanging of
substances between the blood and the tissues that surround the capillaries. Except for
the lungs, the capillaries carry oxygenated blood to various organs in the body,
including the heart (Foster and Coetzee, 2016). They also carry blood which lacks
oxygen from the different parts of the body to the lungs. In the lungs, oxygen is bound
to the blood cells and carbon dioxide is eliminated. The oxygenated blood then moves
along the pulmonary vein and enters the heart via the atrium on the left side.