By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
This Part 3 of our series “How our body works” will discuss the circulatory system. Part 1 discussed the digestive system and Part 2 discussed the respiratory system. These two systems are the natural entrances of our basic ingredients for life – air, water and food. To strengthen our digestive system, we need to eat fruit vegetables like squash, sayote, okra, etc. No wonder we have so much squash all throughout the year. To strengthen our respiratory system, we need to eat beans, even daily. God gives us a lot of beans and there is enough supply all over the world all year round. Don’t forget, it is best that our food and drink be organic.
Now that oxygen, water and food have entered our body, they need to be distributed to each individual cell, otherwise, they are useless. It is like there is a bowl of rice in front of you but unless you stretch your hand to get it and put it in your mouth, it is of no use to you. Likewise, nutrients don’t get absorbed in your body by looking only. If that was so, that would be scary. Imagine, you just look at lechon and you absorb all those “taba”! God is good indeed.
Again, these basic elements for life have to be delivered to each individual microscopic cell from the top of your head to the tip of your fingers and toes!! Otherwise, the cell dies unnecessarily. And how many cells are there in the body? At the moment, science says there are about 30 to 37.2 trillion cells in the body, depending on age, weight, sex and other factors. Wowee, I can’t count that! Red blood cells comprise the most number of cells in the blood and comprise 80% of cells in the body- about 25 trillion red blood cells, on the average. Why so kaya? Because red blood cells are the carriers of oxygen and oxygen is so vital to life. They load the oxygen from the lungs, unload it in the cell then backloads carbon dioxide to the lungs where it is exhaled to the environment. Nutrients are delivered through the other components of the blood. So blood is the vital medium that transports what each cell needs. Blood is liquid but it also has to flow so that these oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the cells. Comparing it with water, what use is it if you have a water source as big as the Sto. Tomas reservoir and you don’t have an efficient water system that will deliver the water to the households? The water will just be there in the reservoir or it will just supply a few select households. Well, God is fair and square so he designed a wonderful blood distribution system to deliver enough blood that each cell needs from your head and down to your feet, no favoritism. Science has discovered this intricate distribution system of flexible, resilient pipes called arteries, which originate from a central pumping station – the heart- and a corresponding collection system of pipes called veins, to transport blood and wastes from the cells to the lungs and kidneys and back to the heart. The heart and blood vessels (arteries and veins) comprise the circulatory system.
Just as in the other two previously discussed systems, the laws of the universe are at work in the circulatory system. For example, the law of rhythm is manifested in the circulatory system in at least one instance. Here, the heart will contract to pump the blood out of the heart into the arteries then relaxes to let blood fill its chambers then contracts again and relaxes again in a regular rhythm. We hear this rhythmic dub-dub, dub-dub, with the stethoscope (stet). Try it. Using the stet is open to everyone, not only to doctors or BHWs. The first “dub” is your systolic pressure and the second “dub”, which is softer, is your diastolic pressure.
Unlike the digestive and respiratory systems which have openings to the outside world, the circulatory system is a closed circuit, except for a short while during menses and childbirth, where blood naturally flows out then closes again. Being a closed circuit, at any given time, there are about 4.5 to 5.5 liters of blood running through this system in a man weighing 150-180 pounds. This being the case, God made it so that when you cut yourself and blood leaks, the body will, without your thinking, act to patch up the leaking part- this is by clotting the blood. So you will notice that even if you ignore minor cuts in your skin, they will stop bleeding by themselves and heal. How about blood donation? Don’t worry. One can lose up to 14% of blood volume without any side effects thus one can donate 500 ml. or half-liter of blood without any side effects, although some may feel dizzy if they sit or stand up immediately after blood-letting. Some blood donors can even donate up to one liter without much ado. Up to a certain extent, the body will cope and will produce more blood cells to re-instate the volume.
Just like any system in the body, the circulatory system will not function if we don’t take care of it- much like a water system will fail if there is no maintenance work on it. To review, the circulatory system distributes blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body and gets the wastes along with the blood and transports them back to the lungs, kidneys, skin and other body outlets. Green leafy vegetables make the heart strong and the blood vessels patent and resilient. A strong heart and patent blood vessels will make blood flow easily to all parts of the body. However, if the pipe or artery gets narrowed or clogged then less or no blood flow. If the pipe bursts, then blood will leak out of the system so less blood or no blood to flow. No blood flow to the cell means death of that cell. So what causes clogged arteries? Science has shown that a mixture of cholesterol and other fatty deposits and sugar and other chemicals clog the circulatory system. These same materials make the blood sticky thus slowing the flow of blood. The slower the blood flow, the more chances that the fat-sugar combo will stick to the walls. And if the blood is sticky, the heart will have to exert more pressure to pump it out thus making your blood pressure rise. And if blood pressure is high for a long time, the arteries can burst. So taking medicine just to make the heart pump weaker to lower blood pressure is not solving the problem. The solution is to make your blood thin and not to make it thick again. Think of the law of the harvest. If you plant cholesterol, MSG, sugar and other artificial chemicals in your body, do you think you will reap a healthy circulatory system? ***
**
Psalm 66: 4 “Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.”
