Function, Location, Size of the Heart
Hari Mudigonda
Function of the Heart
The heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Its job is to pump blood to all of your cells and organs. It powers your entire circulatory system by transporting oxygen and nutrients to your cells and removing wastes like carbon dioxide.
Location of the Heart
The heart is located in your chest’s center, in a small space between your lungs called the mediastinum cavity. The heart sits at an angle, where the bottom end points toward your left hip and the top end points toward your right shoulder. Most of the heart’s mass rests a little left of the midsternal line. It separates itself from other structures by a double-walled membrane called the pericardium, also known as the pericardial sac. The best way to think of a heart’s shape is to think of a pyramid. It has a broad bottom, and it narrows at the top.
Shape and Size of the Heart
Typically, your heart is almost the same size as your fist. If you are a female, the heart weighs between 250–300 grams. If you are a male, the heart weighs between 300–350 grams. Sometimes the size of an athlete’s heart might be even larger. This is because exercise adds myofilaments, a type of protein, to your cells. Therefore, the size of your cells increases, although the number of your cells stays the same. This phenomenon is known as “hypertrophy.”
