6 THE CARDIOVASCULAR AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS The cardiovascular system The cardiovascular system transports food, oxygen, water, and other fundamental substances to tissue and carries away waste products. It is made up of three parts: How many times does a heart beat during a lifetime? a. 300,000,000; b. 30,000,000; c. 3,000,000,000. The first heart transplant in the UK was performed in 1968. The first successful one, however, took place in 1979, when Sir Terence English gave a new heart to a Mr Castle, who lived for more than five years afterwards. In Italy, the first heart transplant was performed in 1985. Every minute of our life we breathe from five to six litres of air. carbon dioxide: anidride carbonica chamber: camera to drain: drenare fist: pugno lung: polmone to propel: spingere avanti sac: alveolo (polmonare) waste: scorie 22 BODY AND MIND The respiratory system The fundamental function of the respiratory system is to provide oxygen, which is needed to obtain energy from food, to individual tissue cells, and to remove carbon dioxide. The respiratory system is an intricate arrangement of spaces and passageways that conduct air into lungs. These spaces include: the nasal cavity, the blood, which is the fluid in which materials are carried to and from tissue. It is a connective tissue made of cells which move freely in its liquid portion, known as plasma; the pharynx, the heart, which is the driving force that propels blood. It is a muscular pump that sends the blood around the body ; it is a hollow organ about the size of a fist; Ventilation is the movement of air into and out of the lungs, as in breathing. The two phases of ventilation are: the larynx, the trachea, the lungs with their tubes and sacs. inhalation, the drawing of the air into the lungs. the blood vessels, the routes by which exhalation, the expulsion of the air the blood travels to, through, and from the lungs. from tissue back to the heart. They can be classified into three groups: arteries, which carry blood from ventricles (pumping chambers of the heart) to the capillaries Lung in organs and Capillaries tissue; veins, which drain capillaries in the tissues and organs, and return the blood to the heart; Left atrium Pulmonary veins capillaries, Pulmonary arteries Left ventricle Pulmonary which Aorta to circulation Right atrium Systemic Right ventricle allow systemic circulation arteries exchanges Systemic veins between the blood and Vessels transporting body cells and Capillaries oxygenated blood between the Vessels transporting blood and air deoxygenated blood in lung tissue. Vessels involved in gas exchange Cardiovascular System