Amazing Facts About the Heart
Did you know…..
1.Your Heart has its own electric supply and will continue to beat when separated from the body.
2.Laughter Is Good For Your Heart- Laughter balances your stress hormones, reduces inflammation in your arteries, and increases HDL or “good” cholesterol. These effects last at least 24 hours, according to the American Heart Association.
3.Your adult heart beats about 100,000 times each day. That is at least one beat every second, or 60 to 100 times a minute, according to the Heart Association. For people whose heart rate is closer to 60 beats per minute (bpm), that’s about 86,000 times a day. And it’s 144,000 times a day if your heart rate is closer to 100 bpm.
4.Age and fitness level affect your heart rate. Generally, as children grow or adults get fitter, the heart rate gets slower.
Newborn (0 to 11 months): 70 to 160 bpm
One to four years: 80 to 120 bpm
Five to nine years: 75 to 110 bpm
Children 10 years and up and adults (non-athletes): 60 to 100 bpm
Adults (athletes): 40 to 60 bpm
5.Heart disease isn’t only the number one killer of men, it’s also the top killer for women. According to the Heart Association, more than one in three women are living with heart disease. Every minute in this country, one woman dies from heart disease, stroke, or another form of cardiovascular disease.
6.Want to know how big your heart is? Make a fist. Heart size depends on the size of the person as well as the condition of their heart. In general, a healthy heart is about the size of the person's fist.
7.Your heart rate drops while you sleep. At night, it’s common for heart rates to drop below 60 bpm. Some people even have rates in the 40s while sleeping.
8.Heart attack symptoms are different in men and women. Although heart disease is an equal opportunity killer, symptoms of heart attacks show up differently in men versus women. Whereas men often report crushing chest pain, sweating and nausea, women might instead experience shortness of breath, dizziness, lightheaded or fainting, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, and upper back pressure, notes the AHA.
9.Your activity level is the greatest potential risk factor for heart disease. People with low fitness levels have double the risk of heart disease as their more active counterparts. The AHA recommends logging at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination of the two, every week.
10.Depression increases your risk for a heart attack, especially if you’re a woman. If you’re a woman under 55 with moderate or severe depression you are more than twice as likely to have a heart attack, die of heart disease, or require an artery-opening procedure.
11.Excessive amounts of sitting have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. You may have heard that sitting is the new smoking. Numerous studies show that spending most of the day on your duff has been linked to chronic health conditions, including heart disease.
12.Your heart is one giant pump. Every minute, your heart pumps about five quarts of blood through a system of blood vessels that's over 60,000 miles long. That translates to about 2,000 gallons of blood every day.