22 Fascinating Heart Facts

Your heart affects every part of your body. That means that diet, lifestyle, and your emotional well-being can affect your heart. It’s important to take steps in all aspects of your daily life to maintain a healthy heart.

1. The average heart is the size of an adult’s fist.

2. Your heart beats, on average, 100,000 times per day.

3. Your heart pumps roughly 2,000 gallons of blood every day.

4. The beating of your heart is controlled by an electrical system that causes the heart’s muscle to contract.

5. The heart can continue to beat even when it’s disconnected from the body (for a time).

6. The first open-heart surgery was conducted in 1893 by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams at a hospital in Chicago. Dr. Williams was one of the few black cardiologists in the United States at the time.

7. The first implantable pacemaker was used in 1958 by Arne Larsson, who was the recipient of the pace maker. He lived longer than the surgeon who implanted it, and died at the age of 86 from a disease unrelated to his heart.

8. The youngest person to receive heart surgery was a newborn baby who was only one-minute old at the time of the operation. She was born with a fatal heart defect from which most babies don’t survive. While her surgery was successful, she will eventually need a heart transplant.

9. The earliest known case of heart disease was identified in the remains of a 3,500 year-old Egyptian mummy.

10. The fairy fly, which is a kind of wasp, has the smallest heart of any living creature.

11. The American Pygmy Shrew is the smallest mammal, but it has the fastest heartbeat at 1,200 beats per minute.

12. The giant Blue Whale has the largest heart of any mammal. It’s the approximate size of a small car, weighing about 450 pounds.

13. The giraffe has a lopsided heart, with their left ventricle being thicker than the right. This is because the left side has to get blood up the giraffe’s long neck to reach their brain.

14. Most heart attacks happen on a Monday.

15. Heart attacks that occur in the morning are more severe than those that occur at other times of the day.

16. The human heart weighs less than 1 pound, however, a man’s heart is 2 ounces heavier than a woman’s heart, on average.

17. A woman’s heart beats slightly faster than a man’s heart.

18. The beating sound of your heart is caused by the valves of the heart opening and closing.

19. It is possible to have a broken heart. Caused by a rush of stress hormones from an emotional or physically stressful event, “Broken Heart Syndrome” can mimic the symptoms of an actual heart attack.

20. Death from a broken heart, or “Broken Heart Syndrome,” is possible but extremely rare.

21. Some historians believe that the iconic heart shape as a symbol of love comes from the silphium plant, which was used as an ancient form of birth control.

22. Laughing is good for your heart. It reduces stress and gives a boost to your immune system.

• References

www.history.com

www.nhic.gov

www.americanheartassociation.com