GET TO KNOW YOUR HEART

Diagram of heart Your heart is an amazing muscle. It works 24 hours a day, pumping blood around your body to help keep you alive.

Where is your heart? Do you think your heart is on the left side of your body? A lot of people do but it's actually almost in the centre of your chest, between your lungs, but it tilts to the left.

How does it pump?

Your heart is actually a 'double pump' with four chambers.

The right-hand side pumps blood to the lungs for it to pick up oxygen. The blood then goes back to the heart, and the left-hand side pumps it out around your body. As the blood travels, it becomes de-oxygenated.

Heart animations and video clips

Check out this animation to see the heart in action.

Watch this video clip of how your heart works.

Download the file here (file size 3.22MB, you need Quicktime).

Heart facts

Your heart beats 100,000 times every day.

You have about 100,000km of blood vessels in your body.

Why can your heart go wrong?

There's lots of reasons why a person's heart may not work properly. You might have a heart defect from birth or a condition could develop over time. Eating well, not smoking and leading an active life can help to keep your heart in top condition. Find out more about different heart conditions in the Meet@teenheart section of this site.

Can you feel the pulse?

Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day, and you can feel it when you take your pulse. The best places to feel for your pulse are on your wrist or neck. Photograph of taking a pulse

The sound your heart makes when it beats is actually the sound of your heart valves opening and closing.

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BHF Youth Campaigner meets Vince Cable

Youth Campaigner, Ned Jones, meets Vince Cable and hands him British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK signed petitions - calling for a ban on point of sale advertising of tobacco. Watch the youtube footage here

Protect children from tobacco marketing and join the British Heart Foundation campaign:
www.bhf.org.uk/outoforder

Leanne's blog

Leanne is calculating? Find out more by reading the rest of her blog for yheart, here.

Why don't you tell us what you think of her blog by emailing us at yheart@bhf.org.uk

Experts are back!

This week our expert Paul answers a difficult question from a girl who has fallen out with her friend and lost a lot of weight. Find out what our experts suggest.

The experts are back, and they are answering all your questions. Read our newest answers.

YouTube

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Thanks!

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Ban the vending machine
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