Question: what does our heart do?

Anais Kahve answered on 9 Mar 2016:

Hi Samiya, our heart is basically a mechanical pump that pumps blood around the body. Our cells need oxygen to survive so the body has to be able to transport oxygen to all of the cells efficiently. The only way to do this is using our lungs, blood system and the heart. Oxygen enters the blood from our lungs when we breathe and the oxygen binds onto red blood cells in our blood – this is great but it’s no good if the blood isn’t flowing around the body! So the heart pumps the blood around our body so that oxygen can go to the cells. Cells also produce carbon dioxide as waste which must be removed from the body because too much carbon dioxide is toxic. The carbon dioxide also binds red blood cells but can only get out of the body if the blood is flowing. The health of the heart is very important. The heart is a muscle and if it is strained too much then it won’t be very good at pumping blood around the body. In order to keep the heart healthy it’s advised to do exercise so that the muscle can remain flexible but strong. Diet is also very important because the blood vessels that carry the blood around the body mustn’t get blocked. Eating too much fatty food can cause fatty acid deposits which can block blood flow and can cause heart failure and even death if not cleared.