Body of Evidence: The Cardiovascular System

Overview

The heart is a pump about the size of your fist. In your lifetime, this little pump beats about 2 billion times (without stopping) and pumps over 100 million gallons of blood. This blood travels through over 60 thousand miles of blood vesselsarteries, arterioles, capillaries, and veinsto bring nourishment and oxygen to all parts of your body. You may be surprised to learn that the heart is actually two pumps: one pumps blood to the lungs and the other pumps blood to the rest of the body.