General Information on Heart Health

To help you to understand heart disease, it helps to know how your heart works. Above is an image that illustrates how a normally functioning heart works. Your heart is an essential organ. As it beats, it pumps blood through a system of blood vessels, called the circulatory system. The vessels carry blood to every part of the body.

Blood also takes he body’s waste products, including carbon dioxide, away from the tissues. This is needed to sustain life and keep all of the body’s tissues and organs healthy. Many things can happen that affect how the heart works. Click here to read about types of cardiovascular conditions.