This is Session 5 in a series of Sessions for Harmony Alternative Pet Therapists.
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Circulatory System
One mistake we don’t want to make as a pet therapist is to think we have no gaps in our knowledge. We would need many years of specialized training to know all there is to know about the heart alone, and that is just one part of the circulatory system. However, there is another important fact that we do not want to overlook and that is this; as a pet therapist we have more general knowledge than the large majority of the world, and if we consult responsibly, humbly and wisely, we can make an enormous and positive difference in the lives of pet owners and their companion animals.
With the remaining systems of the body we will learn the basics of how they work and the central components. Other course we will be studying will look at each system in greater detail.
The circulatory system has two divisions for the purposes of our studies; the cardiovascular system and the lymphatic system.
Have you ever eaten a pepper that was so hot it left you in pain for several minutes or even longer?
Say the next sentence and imagine what each adjective might look like after eating a hot, hot mouthful of peppers.
Hot Peppers Leave Painful And Constant, Vibrations, Leaping, Loping and Lapping!
A pepper attack can almost feel like vibrating pain. One can imagine leaping form the chair, loping over to the faucet and lapping up water to try and sooth the pain.
The parts of the circulatory System are the H P L P A C V L L L, and these stand for the Heart, Pulmonary Artery, Lungs, Pulmonary Vein, Artery, Capillaries, Vein, Lymphatic Capillaries, Lymphatics and Lymph Nodes.
The Heart: The main component of the cardiovascular (having to do with the heart) system and the circulatory system is the muscle we call the heart. It has four compartments, two on each side. See the next picture.
Starting at the X, the blood flows from the RV (right ventricle) to the lungs where it gets freshly oxygenated from the air we inhale. Next it flows all freshly oxygenated back to the Left Atrium. From the LA it dumps blood into the left ventricle LV and from there it is pumped into the body first by entering the body’s main artery, the aorta. From here it travels through smaller arteries and arterioles (tiny arteries) to all the parts of the body. At this point, it feeds and cleans tissues with the help of capillaries. The capillaries are where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide take place and where the exchange between nutrients and waste takes place. The nutrients and oxygen feed the tissues (muscles and organs etc) and then the waste and carbon dioxide leave through the blood vessels known as veins. Though there are many veins and tiny veins, (called venule), two main veins dump all the spent blood back into the upper atrium. These two veins are called the Superior Vena Cava and the Inferior Vena Cava. The superior Vena Cava dumps blood from the upper parts of the body back into the right atrium while the Inferior Vena Cava dumps blood back into the right atrium from the rest of the body. At this point the valve between the right atrium and right ventricle opens and the blood begins it journey through the body again. The beat you hear from the heart is the valves opening and closing as the heart receives and pumps blood.
Read the above explanation of the flow of blood through the body out loud while tracing its route with your finger or a pencil.
Notice with our acronym we identify the Pulmonary Artery and the Pulmonary Vein. We don’t identify the Aorta artery, but, simply remember it is the largest artery feeding the body with blood. You should also see now that arteries carry blood from the heart and veins carry the blood back to the heart. Arteries are taking blood with oxygen and nutrients to the body parts while veins are taking the spent blood and waste away from the body parts and back to the heart. However, this waste will be eliminated out of the body through other systems at work. As an additional note of course, you may remember that when we breathe out we are breathing out carbon dioxide and when we breathe in, we are taking in oxygen.
We have covered the Heart, Pulmonary Artery, Lungs, Pulmonary Arteries (including the aorta), Capillaries and Veins, Capillaries. We have H P L P A C V L L L. Using our acronym, we still have three “L’s” left. These three “L’s” form an adjunct to the circulatory system called the lymphatic system.
The lymphatic system carries white blood cells to fight infection and it assists the body in getting rid of waste that perhaps doesn’t get picked up by the blood returning in veins. The lymphatic does this by picking up the clear fluids that exist between cells in the body. With the help of lymphatic capillaries, it carries waste from cellular reproduction and other waste products out of the body. When muscles are used they squeeze lymphatic material into the venous (having to do with veins) system. Lymphatic fluids also go through a series of filters called lymph nodes. Hence the lymphatic system is made up of the lymphatics and lymph nodes and lymphatic capillaries.
Blood: Blood contains white blood cells (which fight disease) and red blood cells which carry oxygen along with platelets, which help in clotting blood, to the entire body. These blood cells (white and red) bathe in a yellowish fluid called plasma, and all of these together is what we call blood. Blood, in addition to fighting disease with white blood cells and carrying oxygen to the body with red blood cells, does other things. It helps to regulate body temperature and helps carry waste out of the body. These are some of the things that blood does and what it is composed of. Say out loud what blood consists of and name what jobs blood has in the body.
TEST
1) Name the parts of the circulatory system H P L P A C V L L L.
2) In what kind of vessels is blood carried away from the heart?
3) What is the name of the primary artery that takes blood to the body?
4) Name the four compartments of the heart.
5) What three components make up blood?
6) Name three functions of blood.
7) What does the Superior Vena Cava do?
8) What does the Inferior Vena Cava do?
9) What do lymph nodes do?
ANSWERS
1) Heart, pulmonary artery, lungs, pulmonary vein, arteries, capillaries, veins, lymphatic capillaries, lymphatics and lymph nodes.
2) Arteries
3) Aorta
4) RV, LV, RA, LA
5) White and red blood cells, platelets and plasma.
6) Carry waste from the body, carry oxygen, fight infection, regulate temperature.
7) Drains the upper body of blood back to the right atrium.
8) Drains the lower body of blood back to the right atrium.
9) Filter blood.
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