Heart attacks are usually caused by some degree of blockage in the coronary arteries. If, over time, your coronary arteries become damaged and less capable of delivering a steady supply of blood to the cells of your heart, you may experience chest pain, shortness of breath, and other symptoms that are typical of a heart attack. So just as your heart delivers nutrients and oxygen to the cells of your kidneys, stomach, and liver, your heart also delivers nutrients and oxygen to its own cells. The cells that make up your heart are no different than the rest of the cells in your body - your cardiac cells also require a steady supply of blood, nutrients, and oxygen, and your cardiac cells receive these things via your coronary arteries. Steady blood flow also ensures regular removal of waste materials from your cells, which keeps your cells uncluttered and free to function properly. The blood that your heart pumps to all of your cells delivers nutrients and oxygen to fuel ongoing energy production within your cells. ![]() The most important determinant of the health of every cell in your body is the quality of blood that is supplied for ongoing nourishment and removal of waste products. Given all of the above, it makes sense, then, that taking care of your organs requires that you take care of your cells. ![]() When the majority of cells that make up any organ in your body are healthy, that organ is likely to be healthy the converse is true as well - when most of the cells that make up one of your organs are dysfunctional or diseased, that organ is likely to be dysfunctional. The health of every organ in your body is determined by the health of the cells that make up your organs. This bird's eye view of your physical make-up is important because it highlights the following point: Groups of tissues come together to form your organs. Groups of cells come together to form specialized tissues. Your cells are the basic living units that make up your body. So in reverse order, a simple, big picture look at your anatomical make-up looks like this: Your organs are collections of specialized tissues, and your tissues are collections of groups of cells. Less well known as organs are your bones and skin. Your brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, liver, gall bladder, spleen, and pancreas are well known examples of organs. ![]() You're likely familiar with most or all of the major organs in your body. As you read this series, I encourage you to adopt the mindset of having to learn this material well enough to teach it to a group of junior high school students - this mindset should lead to an excellent understanding of how to care for your health.īefore we look at the major organ systems that work to keep you well, let's first review some basic definitions. The goal of this series of articles is to give you a broad look at the major organ systems in your body and how they work together to keep you well. If you want to be relatively free of the fear of not knowing enough about your health that you have to rely on others to make big decisions for you, it's critical that you take some time to learn about how your body works.
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