We Heart The Heart
February is American Heart Month, and in honor of our most vital of organs, here are some fun facts.
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• A woman’s heart weighs about 8 ounces and a man’s about 10 ounces.
• A woman’s average heartbeat is faster than a man’s by about eight beats per minute.
• Your heart beats about 100,000 times per day and about 3 billion times during your life.
• Each minute, your heart pumps 1.5 gallons of blood (about 2,500 gallons daily) through 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
• An average heart valve is about the size of a half dollar.
• Your aorta — the largest artery — is about the diameter of a garden hose.
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• The right side of your heart pumps blood to the lungs, while the left side pumps it to your body.
• Your heart has its own electrical impulse and therefore can keep beating even if separated from your body (and provided adequate oxygen).
• Your heart provides blood to about 75 trillion cells.
• The thump-thump sound of a heartbeat is the four valves closing.
• Your left lung is smaller than your right to make room for your heart.
• Your heart is actually located in the center of your chest, not on the left side of your body.
• The largest heart on earth belongs to the blue whale, weighing about 2,000 pounds; the smallest is the Etruscan shrew, weighing 1.2 grams.