World Heart Day was first founded in 1999 with the World Heart Federation (WHF) collaborating with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The idea of an annual event was conceived by Antoni Bayés de Luna, the president of WHF from 1997-2011. As per the World Heart Federation, World Heart Day is important as cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the world’s number one killer, resulting in 18.6 million deaths a year.

               This year, the theme of World Heart Day :

“Use ❤️ Know ❤️”

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

The heart is a muscular organ about the size of a fist, located just behind and slightly left of the breastbone. The heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins called the cardiovascular system. The heart has four chambers:

The right atrium receives non-oxygenated blood from the the body’s largest veins — superior vena cava and inferior vena cava — and pumps through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle.

The right ventricle receives blood from the right atrium and pumps it to the lungs through the pulmonary valve, where it becomes oxygenated.

The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it through the mitral valve to the left ventricle.

The left ventricle (the strongest chamber) pumps oxygen-rich blood through the aortic valve to the aorta and the rest of the body. The left ventricle’s vigorous contractions create our blood pressure.

The coronary arteries run along the surface of the heart and provide oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. A web of nerve tissue also runs through the heart, conducting the complex signals that govern contraction and relaxation. Surrounding the heart is a sac called the pericardium. It is also made up of four valves: the tricuspid, pulmonary, mitral and aortic valves.