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The Circulatory System
The Circulatory System
The circulatory system is vital in maintaining homeostasis as an essential delivery system in the body. The circulatory system includes the heart, blood, and all of the vessels that connect all parts of the body.
The human heart consist of 4 chambers that work together to pump deoxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to the body.
The pathway of blood through the heart cycles through 4 steps:
1. The blood enters the right atrium of the heart from the body. This blood is low on oxygen.
2. From the right atrium, the blood enters the right ventricle through a valve that separates the 2 sections. The walls of the right ventricle contract and send the deoxygenated blood out of the heart through the pulmonary artery and into the lungs. The blood delivers carbon dioxide to the lungs and pick up oxygen.
3. The oxygen rich blood enters the left atrium from the lungs. Once the left atrium is full, the valves close to prevent blood from pushing back into the lungs.
4. From the left atrium, the blood enters the left ventricle. The walls of the left ventricle contract to push the blood out into the body through the aorta (the largest blood vessel in the body).
In this model, the blue arrows represent blood that is low on oxygen after it has been delivered to cells in the body. The red arrows represent blood that contains oxygen from the lungs before it is delivered to the body.
The arteries (in red) carry oxygenated blood away from the heart. The arteries eventually branch out into capillaries. Diffusion of gases, nutrients, and other materials carried in the blood take place through the capillaries to and from the cells in the body.
The blood delivers materials to the cells and picks up wastes before it travels back to the heart through veins. The deoxygenated blood in the veins carry waste materials that need to leave the body.
Blood is Vital in Maintaining Homeostasis
Blood is Vital in Maintaining Homeostasis
The blood delivers materials throughout the body in order to maintain homeostasis. It consists of the water, nutrients, and building blocks needed to keep cells alive and to make new cells. The blood also helps maintain gas levels, pH, and carries hormones throughout the body.
The blood is made up of 4 components:
1. Red blood cells carry the oxygen to the cells and carbon dioxide from cells in the body. These cells contain a protein called hemoglobin that helps carry oxygen molecules.
2. White blood cells help fight infection. There are different types of white blood cells that perform different tasks.
3. Platelets help the blood clot when you get injured.
4. Plasma is the liquid part of the blood that carries water, nutrients, and hormones. The plasma makes up about 60% of the total volume of the blood.
All of the materials that the cells need to survive and maintain homeostasis are carried by the blood. Changes in the blood and blood flow is a major indicator that homeostasis is disrupted.
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