Heart Dissection Lab

1. The pericardium surrounds and protects the heart with a serous membrane, also releasing fluids to reduce friction.
2. Arteries are different from veins since arteries have thicker walls with more muscle and less volume while veins have thinner walls, less muscle, and more volume.
3. The auricle is a musclular pouch that increases the volume of the atrium and allows it to pump more blood through.
4. Some differences between the atria and ventricles are that the artia first receive the blood from other places in the body and are above the ventricles while the ventricles receive blood from the atria. The ventricles are also larger than the atria and have more myocardium since they have to pump blood to places outside of the heart.
5. The coronary sinus is a blood vessel that empties blood into the right atrium after receiving blood from the coronary veins. The inferior vena cava is a large vein that takes deoxygenated blood to the heart from the lower half of the body and empties into the right ventricle. The tricuspid valve is pictured as a flap between the right atrium and right ventricle.

7. The anchoring of the heart valves is so important because it ensures that the valves do not get carried away with the blood and are not a part of the backflow as well.

9. The semilunar valve prevents backflow to the heart.

10. A swelling in the feet and ankles if a valve disease occurs on the right side of the heart is because the blood is supposed to come up from the inferior vena cava which goes through the right atrium, the right side of the heart but with this disease, it means that there is a backflow because the valves are not working, causing swelling. If a valve disease occurred on the left side of the heart, there wouldn't be sufficient blood going to the muscles and body since the left side of the heart, containing the aorta, sends oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
11. The chordae tendinae look fibrous and tendon-like and I can see them connecting to their respective valves. The valves look like flaps
11. The left and right sides of the heart have several differences. For example, the left side is bigger and has more myocardium because it pumps blood throughout the entire body, while the right side is not as muscular since it only pumps blood to the lungs

13.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B20g3GH8iX_Gdm9nRE5PbkpGSGc/view?ts=564aab47

Unit 3 Reflection

This unit was all about the circulatory system, understanding the workings of the heart and some of its accessory organs to understand more about heart diseases and how to prevent and diagnose them. The cardiovascular system is quite complex, pumping heart all throughout the body, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. The heart has four chambers and simply put, deoxygenated blood goes in to the right atrium and through the right ventricle to the lungs where it is 'oxygenated' then goes back through the heart through the left atrium then left ventricle and out to the rest of the body. To maintain a healthy cardiovascular system, exercise, a healthy diet, and much more are needed otherwise there can be plaque buildup in the arteries of the heart that can be life-threatening. Heart disease includes many cardiovascular diesases such as heart attacks, cardia arrenst, strokes and more which are caused by the atherosclerosis of coronary arteries. However to promote cardiovascular health, people can eat foods with less LDL cholesterol and more HDL cholesterol, exercise more, and not smoke. I would like to learn more about the treatments for cardiovascular diseases and how different things affect those treatments. 

Dissection of a sheep's heart

For this unit, I felt that it was easier because I could go through the heart and its chambers and veins to truly understand the process rather than just be memorizing what is good and what is bad. However through the heart dissection I also got to learn that real world application is important, especially in subjects such as anatomy because I found that the heart that we worked with was quite different from a heart in the anatomy textbook. In the last reflection I mentioned wanting to do research on sections that I did not understand as well or remember as well and I actually did that for some of the treatments and I think it helped me understand the concepts more thoroughly. For the rest of the semester, I would like to go over what I learned in class that day for homework as well rather than just waiting to study before the test. Like that chart that we were shown in class about how well people remember things, I think that I should apply that as well.

Measuring blood pressure

When measuring blood pressure, there are two numbers that must be taken: systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure can be determined by where the meter is when you first hear a pulse beat while the diastolic pressure is determined by the number on the meter when the sound of the beat changes and blood flows better as the pressure is released more. To measure blood pressure, a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope is used while when measuring heart rate, either the fingers or stethoscope are used. However, using your thumb is not ideal when measuring heart rate since the thumb has a heart beat! Using a sphygmomanometer can actually be quite simple. First, wrap the cuff around a person's right bicep and find their heartbeat in or near the crook of their elbow. Before beginning, make sure the person has their palm facing up and arm propped up, around chest level. Then close the valve on the pump and pump the cuff until the pressure gauge reaches 150, then slowly release the air (by opening the valve). Watch the gauge and the number it is on when the first heartbeat is heard is the systolic pressure while the number on it when the sound of the heartbeat changes to a whooshing sound, is the diastolic pressure.

	Nicole	Cassi
Blood Pressure Test 1	205/60	100/58
Blood Pressure Test 2	94/60	104/62

	Test 1 (Nicole)	Test 2 (Cassi)
Pulse rate (radial)	60	66
Pulse rate (carotid)	60	72
Stethoscope	66	72

Unit 2 Reflection

Health is a measure of our well-being, physically, mentally, and socially. This includes maintaining our nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and our social lives. As a high school student, health should be my top priority however, I have come to find that I am not as healthy as I believe myself to be. Although I run daily and have good relationships with my friends and family, the amount of nutrients and sleep I receive are not enough while my stress levels are too high. From what I have observed, many of my peers are in this position as well. Therefore, to promote greater health and wellness on campus, cheaper and healthier options should be served in the cafeteria and a weekend of no homework each semester could be enforced to help reduce stress and allow students more time to sleep. A couple weeks ago I had read an article about the necessity of good sleep and how our technology centered world has changed the sleeping patterns of many all around the globe.

This unit centered around the five pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress and social, and their physical effects on the body. I learned that the keys to a healthy diet follow four simple rules: adequacy, moderate, variety, and balance. By following these, it is actually quite simple to maintain a healthy and balanced diet with a variety and sufficient amount of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. In addition to nutrition, exercise is also essential to a body's well-being and is proven to have many health benefits. Sleep also has a strong correlation to health as it rests, renews, and repairs the body and restores, organizes, sorts out the brain. Studies on sleep deprivation have revealed its terrible effects and consequences such as impaired performance, mood, and immunity. Stress is another pillar of health that is commonly found in students and results in poor effects as well. Although we covered some anatomy that relates to the five pillars of health, the four major hormones that regulate our body mechanisms and maintain homeostasis, keeping us healthy, are still a little unclear. In the next unit, I aim to spend more time on sections that I do not fully understand and do extra research on those sections if necessary as well.




 Edward Wilson's new take on human nature raises new discussions regarding man's rise.

Monday Wellness Reflection- Stretching

The topic of stretching is one that I have found to be underrated, or at least not very well researched or understood by my peers. It has also interested me since I run and dance and have always wondered what could help improve me and whether stretching was actually beneficial. So when I was researching stretching, I focused my search on what it does before and after exercise or a sport. However what I found most interesting was not the effects of stretching but rather how the muscular, skeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems worked together to make our bodies contract and move. As I was looking more into that aspect of stretching, there was a tremendous amount of detail that went into it- muscles are composed of motor units which are then made up of muscle neurons and cells which are then divided into sarcomeres, which are then made up of different proteins! Overall though, stretching is found to have many health benefits and there are several studies that have studying its benefits in athletes or sedentary people over long periods of time. The main benefit of stretching is for increased flexibility and mobility for whatever sport or activity that will be done but it is also used for better posture and blood circulation which is helpful to sedentary people as well. On a scale of 1-10, I would grade myself 9 because I think we could have made our activity more interactive since the video went too fast for the entire class.

Nutrition Analysis

 From my diet monitoring, I learned that the foods I eat actually have a lot of empty calories. My nutrient deficiencies tend to come from not consuming enough foods with dairy products. On my third day, my dairy consumption was at a low of 17%. However on the first day, my protein intake was extremely high, at 205%. I think that I could have balanced those extremities out better rather than over or under compensating for those food groups. From the Falcon Market I learned that just reading nutrition labels does not provide an accurate conclusion as to the 'healthiness' of the food; rather it is calculating macromolecule percentages that can do so. I also learned about food recommendations such as eating organic and seasonal produce and ensuring that I get sufficient protein, produce, and healthy fats when I go shopping. To improve my overall diet balance, I could drink milk in the mornings and at night to make up for dairy deficiencies. Also, I should remember to eat in moderation and not cut things out completely.
If I had the opportunity to coach someone else on proper health and nutrition, first and foremost, I would remind them that proper health does not only depend on food consumption and that it has many other factors. I would also tell them to remember to well balanced meals, preferably with organic, seasonal, low-sodium, and non-processed foods. A well balanced meal would ensure that they would receive all the nutrients their body requires while organic, seasonal, low-sodium, and non-processed foods (just to name a few) would be more nutritious and healthy, without unnecessary, man-added ingredients.