I went for a routine echocaridiogram a few hours ago and as usual was intrigued and full of questions as I watched the screen for 45 minutes. Seven years ago I had my mitral valve repaired and I have had several echos which are ultrasounds of the heart. I always leave trying to remember what I learned in my anatomy classes about how blood circulates through the body. Since a huge part of fitness is about having a healthy heart and lungs, I thought I would do a little review today. Here is the cycle of the circulatory system:

  • The Right Atrium, receives “used blood” from the body. Blood will be pushed through the tricuspid valve to the
  • Right Ventricle, the chamber which will pump to the lungs through the pulmonic valve to the
  • Pulmonary Arteries, providing blood to both lungs. Blood is circulated through the lungs where carbon dioxide is removed and oxygen added. It returns through the
  • Pulmonary Veins, which empty into the
  • Left Atrium, a chamber which will push the Mitral Valve open. Blood then passes into the
  • Left Ventricle. Although it doesn’t always look like it in drawings done from this angle, this is the largest and most important chamber in the heart. It pumps to the rest of the body. As it pumps, the pressure will close the mitral valve and open the aortic valve, with blood passing through to the
  • Aorta, where it will be delivered to the rest of the body.
I was lucky that my heart muscle was strong from years of aerobic exercise. The valve problem was a mechanical failure of sorts and was the result of a bad murmur which was probably congenital. You never know what cards you will be dealt or what is not within your control, but the moral of the story is if you take care of yourself with diet and exercise you’re already at an advantage.