Behold; eight facts that make the human heart extraordinarily amazing:
1. Your heart works so hard, it’s intense
When you come to think of it, your heart is pretty diligent about keeping you alive and kicking. It began to beat four weeks after you were conceived, and does the most physical work among all the muscles in your body in your lifetime. With adequate supply of oxygen, it will continue to beat even when separated from your body as it has its own electrical impulse.
2. Your heart is a heavy-duty pumping machine
Essentially a well-coordinated machine, the right side of your heart pumps blood into your lungs, while the left side pumps it back to your body. Every day, it pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels, creating enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles, and equivalent to driving to the moon and back in a lifetime.
3. Not all hearts beat the same
An average heart beats seventy-two times per minute; a hundred thousand times per day; thirty-six thousand times per year; and twenty-five hundred million times in a lifetime. One study showed that, when listening to music, your heart mimics the beat of the sound you are listening to. In another, it was found that the beat of your heart comes in sync with that of your special other after gazing into his or her eyes for 3 minutes.
4. Three things that will surprisingly keep you safe from heart disease
If heart disease runs in your family, you may want to add these three things in your heart-healthy lifestyle:
Lots and lots of laughter – found to send 20% more blood flowing through your entire body, and allow the lining of your blood vessel walls to relax and expand.
A pet cat – a study shows that having one reduces the risk of heart disease by a third. Although, it isn’t certain if owning three can completely rid you of the risk so don’t go cat-hoarder on this.
Discharge of accumulated sexual tension a.k.a orgasm – the Big O is said to cut the likelihood of coronary heart disease in half when experienced at least 3 times a week.
5. Keeping an eye out for the danger of heart disease
Found among 3,000-year-old mummies, heart disease is believed to have existed even during the reign of the Egyptian civilization – even pharaohs had it. Today, it continues to be considered among the greatest health threats all around the world, with the highest number of patients rolling during Christmas day, followed by the 26th of December and New Year’s Day. It was also found that heart attacks mostly occur during Monday mornings, among all other days.
6. Long-been-debunked Philosophies on the Heart
There have been countless theories about the heart – how it works and what it is for. For instance, Early Egyptians believed that the heart had the will of its own, moving around within the body . Now, however, we know that that isn’t true.
On the other hand, Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine, concluded that the arteries were filled by air and not blood. He was disproved by a surgeon, Galen of Pergamum, who demonstrated that it is actually blood that fills the arteries.
Another famous theory by another famous philosopher – Plato – was that, as reasoning originated with the brain, passions, on the contrary originated in the “fiery” heart.
7. “Eureka” moments in the pursuit to cure heart disease
The salvation of thousands of people today from the doom of heart failure would not be possible without the immense technological developments that have taken over the industry. Can you imagine a bright light bulb up French physician Rene Laennec’s head when got the idea for the stethoscope? Before the device, doctors like him had to press their ears against the chests of their patients.
Another extraordinary discovery was cardiac catheterization, which was by German surgeon Werner Forssmann. He threaded a catheter into the vein in his arm and directed it twenty inches toward and into his heart to examine the latter.
8. The Bible enthuses you to a have heart healthy lifestyle
The Book of Daniel from the Bible tells of a boy, named Daniel, and his friends who were invited to serve in the king’s palace for ten days. While in the palace, he and his company refused to eat and drink the royal food and drink, and opted for a legumes-and-water diet. After ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
The said story allegedly advises Bible readers to become vegetarians. In support, it is also found in a study that if you are a vegetarian, you are 19% less likely to die of heart disease.
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