The Circulatory System

How do substances move around the body?

The body has its own transport system

that carries substances around the body.
Which organs are involved in
this system?

heart
blood vessels
blood
The body’s transport system is called
the circulatory system.
 What is carried by the circulatory system?

Food material

Urea

Hormones

Heat

Oxygen is transported Carbon dioxide is carried away

to the body’s cells. from the body’s cells.
 Two types of blood

blood high in oxygen blood low in oxygen

oxygenated deoxygenated

At all times these two types of blood cannot mix.

 A double circulatory system
Blood travels through the heart twice on one complete
journey around the body.

Lungs

Left side of the heart,

Right side of the heart,
deals with the
deals with the
oxygenated blood.
deoxygenated blood.

Body cells
 A double circulatory system
It has two separate circuits and blood passes through the heart
twice:

Pulmonary circulation takes

place between the heart and the
lungs

Systemic circulation takes place

between the heart and other organs
 Pulmonary circuit

• Transports blood to the lungs.

• The blood is oxygenated there and then carried back to the

heart.

• Gaseous exchange happens in the lungs

• The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood and

the pulmonary vein carries oxygenated blood.
 Systemic circuit

 The systemic circuit transports blood around the body.

 It transports oxygen and nutrients to the body tissues,

and carries away deoxygenated blood containing
carbon dioxide and other waste materials.
 HEART
The heart is the organ at the centre of the
circulatory system. It pumps blood around
the body.
 The structure of the heart – exterior

Cardiac
muscle

The heart is made of cardiac muscle and keeps pumping

blood around your body, even when you are asleep!
 The structure of the heart – interior
The inside of the heart is divided into two sections to keep
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood separate.
Each side of the heart is also divided into two sections.

Each section of the heart is called a chamber.

How many chambers are there? 4
 The chambers of the heart

An upper chamber is called an atrium (plural atria).

right left
atrium atrium

right left
ventricle ventricle

A lower chamber is called a ventricle.

 blood to blood to
the lungs the body

blood from blood from

the body the lungs

The atria collect blood that enters the heart.

The ventricles pump blood out of the heart.
 Heart valves
The chambers of the heart are separated by valves
which prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction.

valve leading valve leading

out of out of
right ventricle left ventricle

valve between valve between

right atrium and left atrium and
right ventricle left ventricle
 How does the heart pump blood?

All the parts of the heart on either side, work together

in a repeated sequence.
The two atria contract and relax; then the two ventricles
contract (systole) and relax (diastole).

One complete sequence of contraction and relaxation is

called a heartbeat.
 Heart beat
(How the Heart Functions)
 Heart beat
(How the Heart Functions)
Left and right ventricles
Do you notice anything
different about the two
sides of the heart?

Well, the left ventricle wall

is clearly thicker than the
right ventricle wall.
Why is this?
 Different
destinations lungs

This journey is This journey is

shorter. The right much longer.
ventricle only has The left
to pump blood ventricle has
from the heart to to pump blood
the adjacent all over the
lungs. body!
body cells

Therefore, the left ventricle needs a thicker wall to

generate a stronger ‘squeeze’ on the blood.
 BLOOD

Blood transports materials and heat around

the body, and helps to protect against
disease. It contains:
• Plasma
• red blood cells
• white blood cells
• platelets

Plasma is a straw-coloured
liquid that makes up just over
half the volume of blood.
 Red blood cells
Are made in bone marrow.
Transport oxygen for aerobic respiration.

Red blood cells have adaptations that make them

suitable for this:
• they contain haemoglobin - a red protein
that combines with oxygen
• they have no nucleus so they can contain
more haemoglobin
• they are small and flexible so that they can
fit through narrow blood vessels
• they have a biconcave shape (flattened disc
shape) to maximise their surface area for
oxygen absorption
 White Blood Cells
 White blood cells help the
body to fight invading bacteria

 White blood cells will engulf

and ingest invading bacteria

 They produce antitoxins

 They produce which neutralise the toxins
antibodies which can (poisons) that bacteria
recognise and fight produce, which make us feel
bacteria ill
 White Blood Cells

Are made in the bone

marrow and in the lymph
nodes

the two main ones are the

lymphocytes and the
phagocyte

Phagocyte ‘eat’ and

digest micro-organisms .

some lymphocytes fight disease by making antibodies to destroy

invaders by dissolving them.
other lymphocytes make antitoxins to break down poisons.
 Platelets
Platelets are small
fragments of cells, with no
nucleus

Platelets are made in

bone marrow

Platelets are
involved in blood
clotting
 What do platelets do?

 Platelets produce
tiny fibrinogen
fibres to form a net.
This net traps other
blood cells to form a
blood clot.
 This is useful for
stopping bleeding,
and for preventing
germs from entering
the body through the
cut
 Blood from the heart gets around the body through
blood vessels
There are 3 types of blood vessels
 The ARTERY

 Carry blood away from the heart (always oxygenated

apart from the pulmonary artery which goes from the
heart to the lungs).
 Have thick muscular walls.
 Have small passageways for blood (internal lumen).
 Contain blood under high pressure.
 VEIN

 Carry blood to the heart (always deoxygenated apart from

the pulmonary vein which goes from the lungs to the
heart).
 Have thin walls.
 Contain blood under low pressure.
 Have valves to prevent blood flowing backwards
 CAPILLARIES

 Found in the muscles and lungs.

 Microscopic – one cell thick.
 Very low blood pressure.
 Where gas exchange takes place - oxygen passes
through the capillary wall and into the tissues, while
carbon dioxide passes from the tissues into the blood.
 Capillaries are narrow with thin walls

Blood travelling
through the capillaries
 Coronary heart disease

 The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart

muscle. These may become blocked by a build-up
of fatty plaques containing cholesterol, resulting
in coronary heart disease.
If a coronary artery is
blocked, the blood supply
to part of the heart muscle
is cut off. That part of the
heart cannot continue to
contract, causing a heart
attack.