THE HEART Your heart is a muscle just behind your breastbone (sternum), the bone that connects your ribs. It is roughly the size of your fist, and weighs about 300 grams (one-half a pound). Each heartbeat pumps blood to all parts of the body. Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day. CHAD SHARES HIS STORY Chad was 28 when he suffered a heart attack during a recreational game of hockey.
Even though several relatives died of heart attacks, including his father, he said, “I was young and naпve and thought it couldn’t happen to me.” Chad was being treated for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but he was in the prime of his life and said, “I didn’t feel sick.” Chad believes in the power of being informed and emphasizes that resources for people living with heart disease are critical. “You only have one heart,” he says. He notes that his heart attack has changed his life and that he is grateful for the information he received during his recovery, which has helped him understand and cope with these changes. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” he says.
When asked about prevention, Chad speaks to the impact of a strong family history, but emphasizes “If you can avoid heart disease, avoid it at all costs.” THE BLOOD VESSELS Blood vessels called arteries and veins carry blood around the body. Your body has about 113,000 kilometers of blood vessels. Arteries carry blood rich in oxygen from the heart to the body. Your body needs a constant supply of oxygen. Your body removes oxygen from the blood and uses it. Veins carry blood back to the heart and lungs to pick up more oxygen. The heart then pumps the oxygen-rich blood back again to the whole body.
aorta © Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Circumflex artery right coronary artery left coronary artery anterior interventricular artery 2 | Heart and Stroke Foundation