10 facts about ... The Human Heart
1. Every day, your heart beats about 100,000 times, sending 2,000 gallons (7,200 litres) of blood pumping through your body.
2. Your body has about 5.6 litres of blood. This circulates through the body three times every minute.
3. A man's heart weighs about 10 ounces (280g), while a woman's heart weighs approximately 8 ounces (224g).
4. The largest artery in the body, the aorta, is almost the diameter of a garden hose. Capillaries, on the other hand, are so small that it takes ten of them to equal the thickness of a strand of human hair.
5. Heart disease is the biggest killer of both men and women.
6. Experts now have proof that laughter is good medicine. A good belly laugh can send 20% more blood flowing through your entire body.
7. Prolonged lack of sleep can cause irregular jumping heartbeats called premature ventricular contractions.
8. Chewing an uncoated aspirin right away, at the first sign of chest discomfort or distress, can reduce the amount of damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack.
9. Age is the most significant risk factor of developing heart disease, followed by gender, family history coupled with ethnic background, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high blood cholesterol.
10. Heart drugs may have serious interactions with herbal supplements such as ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort, and garlic.
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