Chapter 11: The Cardiovascular System

The Cardiovascular System

When most people hear the term cardiovascular system, they immediately think of the heart. We have all felt our own heart "pound" from time to time, and we tend to get a bit nervous when this happens. The crucial importance of the heart has been recognized for ages. However, the cardiovascular system is much more than just the heart, and from a scientific and medical standpoint, it is important to understand why this system is so vital to life.

Most simply stated, the major function of the cardiovascular system is transportation. Using blood as the transport vehicle, the system carries oxygen, nutrients, cell wastes, hormones, and many other substances vital for body homeostasis to and from the cells. The force to move the blood around the body is provided by the beating heart. The cardiovascular system can be compared to a muscular pump equipped with one-way valves and a system of large and small plumbing tubes within which the blood travels. Blood (the substance transported) is discussed in Chapter 10. Here we will consider the heart (the pump) and the blood vessels (the network of tubes).