Surprising Facts About Your Heart

Ever wondered how fast the human heart beats or how big it is? Take a closer look at these facts about the heart to learn why it works so hard and why specific things occur.

• On average, an adult’s heart beats between 60 and 100 times a minute. Babies heart rates are faster, between 70 to 190 beats per minute.
• A healthy human heart weighs only 11 ounces on average and can pump 2,000 gallons of blood through 12,000 miles of blood vessels each day.
• Heart attacks happen most often on Monday mornings. Stress hormones are higher in the mornings, and Mondays seem to cause people more stress than other days of the week. Both intersect to cause pockets of plaque to break and form a blockage to the heart.
• Your heart is a well-coordinated machine. The right side pumps blood into your lungs to pick up oxygen, while the left side of your heart receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it back into your body.
• A woman’s average heartbeat is faster than a man’s by almost eight beats per minute. Women’s hearts beat 78 beats per minute, while men’s beat at 70 beats per minute on average.
• Every cell in your body gets blood from the heart, except for your corneas. Because they have no blood vessels, corneas receive nutrients from tears and aqueous humor.
• Laughing is good for your heart. It reduces stress and gives a boost to your immune system.
• Your heart distributes only 5% of blood throughout your body. Your brain and central nervous system distribute 20%, while your kidneys do the most work, distributing 22% of your blood throughout your body.
• Nearly 75 trillion cells receive blood pumped from the heart.
• The largest blood vessel in your body, the aorta, runs from your heart to your belly. It carries the most blood and is about the same diameter as a garden hose.

With your heart being crucial to your survival, it’s important to keep it healthy with proper exercise and a well-balanced diet while avoiding things that can damage it like smoking. Visit VeinCenterAtIowaHeart.com for more tips on healthy habits to implement in your routine.