Introduction

In this assignment I will be covering the different types of energy systems that the body uses to provide energy and nutrients to the muscle as well as the bodies Cardio-Respiratory system that helps to take oxygen around the body through the blood.



The Cardiovascular System

The heart is the center of the cardiovascular system, it is a cardiac muscle and its purpose is to pump blood around the body via the arteries, veins and capillaries. It does so by contracting, to push the blood and then relaxing, this is where the term systolic (when the heart contracts) and diastolic (when the heart is relaxed) come in. The veins, arteries and capillaries all have different roles listed below.



Arteries

The arteries role is to transport blood into the heart from the veins or from the heart into the veins. Arteries have 3 main characteristics.

Thick muscular walls.

High pressure.

Small lumen.



Veins

The veins role is to transport de-oxygenated blood back to the heart to continue the cycle this means that they run up your body and are the subject of gravity, the veins have 4 main characteristics as well.

Thin muscular walls.

Low pressure.

Large lumen

Valves.

The role of the valves is to ensure that the blood does not fall backwards through the vein when the heard is systolic or relaxed.



Capillaries

Capillaries are miniscule blood vessels that exist for two reasons, to get blood to the muscles from the veins but also to let oxygen into the blood through a process called gaseous exchange or diffusion. Capillaries have 2 main characteristics.

Walls are 1 cell thick and therefore very thin.

Very low blood pressure.

The Cardiac Systems Structure and Process

The cardiac system has a process that it follows to oxygenate the blood with every beat, the process is as follows.



De-oxygenated blood enters the heart via the inferior and superior vena cava (veins) into the right atrium, from here they pass into the left ventricle via the tricuspid valve (this prevents the backflow of blood), from the left ventricle the blood flows through the pulmonary artery into the lungs to collect oxygen through the process ‘diffusion’. From the lungs the blood returns back to the heart into the left atrium via the pulmonary veins through the mitral valve into the left ventricle here it travels through the aortic valve into the aorta to be pumped around the body.



The Respiratory System

The respiratory system consists of one main organ known as the Lungs, but also uses the blood in order to transfer oxygen around the body. The lungs are spongy air filled organs, the oxygen first enters the lungs through your throat (trachea), from the trachea the air is pushed through tubes in your lungs called bronchi here the air continues to branches of tubes called bronchioles where the air is finally put into your alveoli (tiny sacs of air) which are responsible for diffusing the oxygen into your blood through the process of gaseous exchange.



When the oxygen is diffused into your blood from the alveoli, it latches on to red blood cells to get transported into the heart and then around the body to the muscles. The red blood cells will rotate back round to the heart and then into the lungs to recollect oxygen and disperse of any carbon dioxide.



The red blood cells only allow oxygen to latch on because of a protein called haemoglobin, without it the oxygen would not be able to latch onto the blood and wouldn’t be able to be transported around the body. This is what happens when people catch malaria, the parasite feeds off the red blood cells haemoglobin making the blood unable to carry oxygen.