Mid-Unit Summary

Mid-Unit Summary

       This unit began with the structure and function of the heart. The structure consists of the three layers with in the wall; epicardium, myocardium, the layer that contracts, and the endocardium, which lines the chamber of the heart. With in those layers of wall includes the four chambers which goes as followed. The Right Atria which receives oxygen deprived blood from the superior and inferior vena cava. From the right atria, the blood moves through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle and then the blood moves through the pulmonary artery outside the heart and into the lungs. from the lungs the oxygen rich blood goes through the pulmonary veins, into the left atria, through the bicuspid valve, into the left ventricle and out through the aorta.
       If there is an instance where a person stalks up with plaque on the blood vessels, the persons blood pressure can increase which causes strokes if there is no blood flow to the brain, or a heart attack when there is no blood to the heart. Cardiac arrest comes when the heart completely shuts down and stops working. These thin and weak blood vessels occur because of fatty material that deposits on the inside of the blood vessel and makes it less flexible and harder for blood to flow.
       The cardiovascular system consists of major components such as the heart, arteries, blood away from heart, veins, blood back to heart, and blood, the fluid that fills the circulatory system. Accessory organs include the lungs where oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxide is  released, kidneys where wastes are removed from blood, small intestine where digestion and absorption occurs, large intestine where water is absorbed, liver where blood is detoxified, spleen where red blood cells are recycled, and bone marrow where spongy cells of bone make red blood cells.
       Blood pressure is a measure of the force excreted by the blood walls of the arteries. the systolic pressure is the result of the contraction of the ventricles while the diastolic pressure is during the ventricle relaxation.
       Red blood cells have no nucleus, no genetic material, and no mitochondria. cannot divide, carries oxygen, sometimes, and has about a 120 day lifespan. White blood cells are larger than RBC and they help fight off microbes. The white blood cells include neutrophils, basophils, eosinophilis, cymphocytes, and monocytes.

Blood Pressure Lab

       When listening through a stethoscope after cutting off blood flow with a sphygmomanometer, the first burst of blood to go through the brachial artery, the artery that the blood is being cut from, creates a high pitched noise that comes from the highest pressure achieved from the contraction. That high pitched noise is the from the systole, and the pressure is called the systolic pressure.

Blood Pressure Lab Results

       The diastole is the loud "whoosh" sound that occurs once the heartbeat is becoming more and more normal.  After the diastole, there is silence which shows that that last noise of a beat was the diastole. 

       The equipment use for heart rate is a stethoscope while the tool for measuring blood pressure is a sphygmomanometer. 

       A thumb would not be ideal for taking a pulse because it has its own pulse that can be mistaken for the pulse you are trying to take. 

       When using the sphygmomanometer to take blood pressure start by rolling up the sleeves of the person. Next, have the person lay their arm out straight on a table with their palm facing up and arm level with their heart. deflate the cuff completely by squeezing out the air bag when the nozzle is open. Wrap the deflated cuff around his or her arm tightly and place the stethoscope on top of the brachial artery, and then put in the ear pieces. Now for the action; close the air nozzle and pump air onto the cuff until you hear and heel no pulse and then let out the air small amounts at a time.

Chalk Walk

Tour Through the Chalk Heart

The flow of the circulatory system and blood flow go through the heart. The blood goes in through the veins into the heart through the superior vena cava, the inferior vena cava or the coronary sinus and then enter the right ventricle, goes through the tricuspid which leads to the right ventricle. From there, the deoxygenated blood runs through the pulmonary valve and into and out of pulmonary arteries and into the lungs. In the lungs, oxygen is put in and carbon dioxide is released. Then the oxygenated blood moves from pulmonary vein to left atrium the through the bicuspid and into the left ventricle where it will make a u-turn and go up the aortic valve where it is the released into the body and the process then starts over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmKEQKwy6d8

Unit 2 Reflection

My Unit 2 Health Reflection

Health is the balance of the five pillars of health; Nutrition, stress, social, exercise, and sleep. Each of these pillars, when in balance, creates a strong and healthy human being. When even one pillar is out of balance, the structure as a whole is much weaker. The four hormones that help with the balance of a person includes as followed; insulin, the break down of macroeconomic and the sorting of glucose in the blood; leptin, energy balance; glycogen, the release of of glucagon and stored fat stimulated by low blood sugar; cortisol, the stress hormone. These hormones will go out of balance with certain action such as "overcarbsumption" which will block insulin receptors, or not eating enough fats and forcing your body to tell your mind to eat more fats resulting in the consumption of too much fat. For the hormone of Cortisol, if a persons stress levels raise so does the cortisol. The stages of stress include the alarm stage, resistance stage and exhaustion stage. Alarm phase (1) raises blood pressure, and heart rate but is only a "fight or flight" instance where a person is ready for immediate physical activity. Resistance phase (2) is when large levels of cortisol is released, muscle protein is broken down into sugars, blood sugar s increased, and there is an increase in appetite. One way to relieve stress is through exercise such as aerobic, muscle or bone strengthening, and stretching.

The essential theme of this unit is how to keep ones body healthy and what it takes to make sure you are healthy. As for the students at SHS, they may think that they have everything going for them because they exercise and eat right, having a balances, moderate, variation, and adequate diet, and they include the nutrients they need; carbohydrates, fiber, lipids, protein, vitamins, minerals, water, and phytochemical, but they do not get enough sleep. During  class, I am a victim of this as well, many students constantly have micro-sleeps where they fall asleep ranging from 1 microsecond to 30 seconds. Also, waking up is a drag and our cortisol levels are not high enough in the mornings and through out the day so our biological time clock will be off since teenagers are feeling sleepy at 12 in the afternoon.

This is why my goal is to sleep better and to decrease my stress; I can accomplish this by getting ahead in homework so that I spread out my homework and won't have excrusiatingly late nights, and if I do, I will make time the next day for a nap. As for the stress portion, I will go on more runs or work out if I am feeling stressed before I try to solve the problems because after I accomplish my stress reliever, my mind will be more in focus and the solving time will be cut down.

One subject that I am comfortable with but not fully comprehending the subject is the secretion and release of hormones. Are they chemical signals that attach to the protein membranes so that a signal is sent through the cell, or are they just released? for next unit I could take the concepts that I learn and further my education in them to reply understand not just their function but the why and how of the subject.

A real world application for me was about 3 weeks ago when I got an average of 2-4 hours of sleep for 3 nights in a row, and then fell sick 5 days afterwards. My body was unable to fight off the pathogen going around school because of my sleep deprivation, and usually I do not get sick, but this time I added a factor working against me not with me, sleep deprivation. Since then, naps have been my best friend and i go to bed much earlier and I have been seeing much improvement. I wake up in the mornings awake, and during the day I do not feel as drowsy and tired as before.

Sleep Diary

My Sleep Diary

To start, this past week is the most sleep that I have gotten in a long time; maybe it is because I have been trying to get to bed early because I know that I have to record it or because I have not had much homework in the past week and I have not had late nights. Either way,  I have noticed a change in my day when I get lots of sleep, I am more energized the next morning and that energy can last me all day. When I do not get sleep, let say about 2-3 hours of sleep, the next day I am not my most energized but the sleep deprivation does not hit me until two days after.


Also, this weekend I was sick, which may have also contributed to my early nights because there was no point in staying up late and not point in waking up early because I could not go anywhere anyways. At night I would wake up 4 or 5 times because of coughing but usually I do not wake up at night with is the reason for the extraneous solutions of 4 and 2 for nights Friday and Saturday respectively. During the day on Sunday, I took a 6 hour nap in the middle of the day and comes Monday, I was feeling much better. In class we talked about how during sleep the body heals itself; well sleep really contributed to my health.