Transport in

Humans
By: Amna Iftikhar
The Circulatory System
 The circulatory system is a
system of blood vessels
with a pump and valves to
ensure one-way flow of
blood

Circulation in Different
Animals
 Fish have a two-
chambered heart and
a single circulation
 This means that for every
one circuit of the body,
the blood passes through
the heart once
 Mammals have a four-
chambered heart and
a double circulation
 This means that for every
one circuit of the body, the
blood passes through the
heart twice
 The right side of the heart
receives deoxygenated
blood from the body
and pumps it to the
lungs (the pulmonary
circulation)
 The left side of the heart
receives oxygenated
blood from the lungs
and pumps it to the
body (the systemic
circulation)
Advantages of a Double Circulation
 Blood travelling through the small capillaries in the
lungs loses a lot of pressure that was given to it by
the pumping of the heart, meaning it cannot travel
as fast
 By returning the blood to the heart after going
through the lungs its pressure can be raised
again before sending it to the body,
meaning cells can be supplied with the oxygen and
glucose they need for respiration faster and more
frequently
Heart Structure: Basics
 The heart is labelled as if it was in the
chest so what is your left on a diagram
is actually the right hand side and vice
versa
 The right side of the heart
receives deoxygenated blood from the
body and pumps it to the lungs
 The left side of the heart
receives oxygenated blood from the
lungs and pumps it to the body
 Blood is pumped towards the heart in
veins and away from the heart
in arteries
 The two sides of the heart are separated
by a muscle wall called the septum
 The heart is made of muscle
tissue which are supplied with blood
by the coronary arteries
Heart Structure
The ventricles have thicker muscle
walls than the atria as they are
pumping blood out of the heart and
so need to generate a higher
pressure
The left ventricle has a thicker
muscle wall than the right
ventricle as it has to pump blood
at high pressure around the entire
body, whereas the right ventricle is
pumping blood at lower pressure
to the lungs
The septum separates the two
sides of the heart and so prevents
mixing of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood
The Function of Valves
 The basic function of all valves is to prevent blood flowing
backwards
 There are two sets of valves in the heart:
 The atrioventricular valves separate the atria from the ventricles
 The valve in the right side of the heart is called the TRICUSPID and the
valve in the left side is called the BICUSPID
 These valves are pushed open when the atria contract but when
the ventricles contract they are pushed shut to prevent blood flowing
back into the atria
 The semilunar valves are found in the two blood arteries that come out of
the top of the heart
 They are unusual in that they are the only two arteries in the body that
contain valves
 These valves open when the ventricles contract so blood squeezes past
them out of the heart, but then shut to avoid blood flowing back into the
heart
 Pathway of blood through the heart
 Deoxygenated blood coming from the body flows into the right atrium via
the vena cava
 Once the right atrium has filled with blood the heart gives a little beat and the
blood is pushed through the tricuspid (atrioventricular) valve into the right
ventricle
 The walls of the ventricle contract and the blood is pushed into
the pulmonary artery through the semilunar valve which prevents blood
flowing backwards into the heart
 The blood travels to the lungs and moves through the capillaries past the
alveoli where gas exchange takes place (this is why there has to be low
pressure on this side of the heart – blood is going directly to capillaries which
would burst under higher pressure)
 Oxygen-rich blood returns to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein
 It passes through the bicuspid (atrioventricular) valve into the left ventricle
 The thicker muscle walls of the ventricle contract strongly to push the blood
forcefully into the aorta and all the way around the body
 The semilunar valve in the aorta prevents the blood flowing back down into
the heart
Effect of exercise
Exercise & Heart Rate
 Heart activity can be monitored by using an ECG,
measuring pulse rate or listening to the sounds of valves
closing using a stethoscope
 Heart rate (and pulse rate) is measured in beats per minute (bpm)
 To investigate the effects of exercise on heart rate, record the
pulse rate at rest for a minute
 Immediately after they do some exercise, record the pulse rate
every minute until it returns to the resting rate
 This experiment will show that during exercise the heart rate
increases and may take several minutes to return to normal
Why does Heart Rate Increase during Exercise?
 So that sufficient blood is taken to the working muscles to
provide them with enough nutrients and oxygen for increased
respiration
 An increase in heart rate also allows for waste products to be
removed at a faster rate
 Following exercise, the heart continues to beat faster for a while
to ensure that all excess waste products are removed from
muscle cells
 It is also likely that muscle cells have been
respiring anaerobically during exercise and so have built up
an oxygen debt
 This needs to be ‘repaid’ following exercise and so the heart
continues to beat faster to ensure that extra oxygen is still being
delivered to muscle cells
 The extra oxygen is used to break down the lactic acid that has
been built up in cells as a result of anaerobic respiration
 The heart is made of muscle
cells that need their own supply of
blood to deliver oxygen, glucose
and other nutrients and remove
carbon dioxide and other waste
products
The blood is supplied by
the coronary arteries

The coronary arteries

 If a coronary artery becomes
partially or completely blocked by
fatty deposits called
‘plaques’ (mainly formed
from cholesterol), the arteries are
not as elastic as they should be and
therefore cannot stretch to
accommodate the blood which is
being forced through them – leading
to coronary heart disease
 Partial blockage of the coronary
arteries creates a restricted blood
flow to the cardiac muscle cells and
results in severe chest pains
called angina
 Complete blockage means cells in
that area of the heart will not be
able to respire and can no longer
contract, leading to a heart attack
Effect of narrowing of arteries
Risk Factors for Coronary Heart
Disease
Preventing and Treating CHD
Prevention & Treatment
 Reducing the risks of developing coronary heart disease
 Quit smoking
 Reduce animal fats in diet and eat more fruits and vegetables – this will
reduce cholesterol levels in the blood and help with weight loss if
overweight
 Exercise regularly – again, this will help with weight loss, decrease
blood pressure and cholesterol levels and help reduce stress

Treatment of coronary heart disease

 Aspirin can be taken daily to reduce the risk of blood clots forming in
arteries
 Surgical treatments include:

1. Angioplasty
2. Coronary bypass surgery
Angioplasty
 A narrow catheter (tube) is threaded through the groin up to the blocked vessel
 A tiny balloon inserted into the catheter is pushed up to the blocked vessel and
then inflated
 This flattens the plaque against the wall of the artery, clearing the blockage
 To keep the artery clear, a stent (piece of metal / plastic mesh) is also inserted
which pushes against the wall of the artery
 Sometimes the stent is coated with a drug that slowly releases medication to
prevent further build-up of plaque

Inserting a stent into a blocked

artery
2) Coronary bypass surgery
 A piece of blood vessel is taken
from the patient’s leg, arm, or
chest and used to create a new
passage for the flow of blood to
the cardiac muscle, bypassing
the blocked area
 The number of bypass grafts
gives rise to the name of the
surgery, so a ‘triple heart bypass’
would mean three new bypass
grafts being attached
Blood Vessels
Arteries, Veins & Capillaries
1. Arteries
 Carry blood at high pressure away from the heart
 Carry oxygenated blood (other than the pulmonary artery)
 Have thick muscular walls containing elastic fibres
 Have a narrow lumen
 Speed of flow is fast
2. Veins
 Carry blood at low pressure towards the heart
 Carry deoxygenated blood (other than the pulmonary vein)
 Have thin walls
Note: All veins contain valves. Only two
 Have a large lumen
arteries (Pulmonary artery & aorta) have
 Contain valves valves, others don't.
 Speed of flow is slow
Comparing arteries and veins
Capillaries
 Carry blood at low pressure within tissues
 Carry both oxygenated and deoxygenated blood
 Have walls that are one cell thick
 Have ‘leaky’ walls
 Speed of flow is slow
How Structure of Blood Vessels is Adapted to their
Function
Arteries
 Have thick muscular walls containing elastic fibres to withstand
high pressure of blood and maintain the blood pressure as it
recoils after the blood has passed through
 Have a narrow lumen to maintain high pressure

Veins
 Have a large lumen as blood pressure is low
 Contain valves to prevent the backflow of blood as it is under
low pressure
Capillaries
 Have walls that are one cell thick so that substances can easily
diffuse in and out of them
 Have ‘leaky’ walls so that blood plasma can leak out and form
tissue fluid surrounding cells
Arterioles & Venules
 As arteries divide more as they get further away from the heart, they
get narrower
 The narrow vessels that connect arteries to capillaries are
called arterioles
 Veins also get narrower the further away they are from the heart
 The narrow vessels that connect capillaries to veins are called venules

The blood vessel network

Shunt Vessels

 Sometimes the cardiovascular system needs to

redistribute the blood to specific areas of the body
 For example:
 During exercise, more of it goes to the working muscles and
less of it goes to other body organs such as the digestive system
 When we are hot, more blood flows through the surface of the
skin and when we are cold less blood flows through the surface
of the skin
 This redirection of blood flow is caused by the use of
a vascular shunt vessel
 The shunt vessels can open or close to control the amount
of blood flowing to a specific area
A shunt vessel in the skin when we are cold A shunt vessel in the skin when we are hot
Circulation around the body
 Blood is carried away
from the heart and
towards organs
in arteries
 These narrow to
arterioles and then
capillaries as they pass
through the organ
 The capillaries widen to
venules and finally
veins as they move
away from the organs
 Veins carry blood
back towards the heart
Some important blood vessels:
 The Lymphatic System
Lymph Fluid
 The walls of the capillaries are so thin
that water, dissolved solutes and
dissolved gases easily leak out of
them / pass through the walls from the
plasma into the tissue
fluid surrounding the cells
 Cells exchange materials (such as
water, oxygen, glucose, carbon dioxide,
mineral ions) across their cell
membranes with the tissue fluid
surrounding them by diffusion, osmosis
or active transport
 More fluid leaks out of the capillaries
than is returned to them, and this
excess of leaked fluid surrounding the
capillaries then passes into the
lymphatic system, becoming lymph
fluid
Lymph Vessels & Nodes
 The lymphatic system is formed from a series of tubes which
flow from tissues back to the heart
 It connects with the blood system near to the heart, where lymph
fluid is returned to the blood plasma
 Lymph nodes are small clusters of lymphatic tissue found
throughout the lymphatic system, especially in the neck and
armpits
 Large numbers of lymphocytes are found in lymph nodes
 Tissues associated with the lymphatic system, such as bone
marrow, produce these lymphocytes
 Lymphocytes play an important role in defending the body
against infection
Components of Blood
Blood micrograph
Types of White Blood Cell
 White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system, defending against infection by
pathogenic microorganisms
 There are two main types, phagocytes and lymphocytes

Phagocytes
 Carry out phagocytosis by engulfing and digesting pathogens
 Phagocytes have a sensitive cell surface membrane that can detect chemicals produced by
pathogenic cells
 Once they encounter the pathogenic cell, they will engulf it and release digestive
enzymes to digest it
 They can be easily recognised under the microscope by their multi-lobed nucleus and
their granular cytoplasm
Lymphocytes
 Produce antibodies to destroy pathogenic cells
and antitoxins to neutralise toxins released by
pathogens
 They can easily be recognised under the
microscope by their large round nucleus which
takes up nearly the whole cell and their clear,
non-granular cytoplasm
 (Read from notes page 164-165)
 Functions of the Parts of the Blood
 Plasma is important for the transport of carbon dioxide,
digested food (nutrients), urea, mineral ions,
hormones and heat energy
 Red blood cells transport oxygen around the
body from the lungs to cells which require it for aerobic
respiration
 They carry the oxygen in the form of oxyhaemoglobin
 White blood cells defend the body against infection by
pathogens by carrying out phagocytosis and antibody
production
 Platelets are involved in helping the blood to clot
Blood Clotting
 Platelets are fragments of cells which are involved in blood
clotting and forming scabs where skin has been cut or punctured
 Blood clotting prevents continued / significant blood loss from
wounds
 Scab formation seals the wound with an insoluble patch
that prevents entry of microorganisms that could cause
infection
 It remains in place until new skin has grown underneath it,
sealing the skin again

 Read PAGE 165

How the blood clots
 When the skin is broken (i.e. there is a wound) platelets
arrive to stop the bleeding
 A series of reactions occur within the blood plasma
 Platelets release chemicals that cause soluble
fibrinogen proteins to convert into insoluble
fibrin and form an insoluble mesh across the wound,
trapping red blood cells and therefore forming a clot
 The clot eventually dries and develops into a scab to
protect the wound from bacteria entering