Yes. Mine was a total block. When you hear that you thought "What? My arteries are clogged?" No. The block is in the electrical system. If you were at 30 then your top half was not talking to bottom half. You were on "escape mode" in terms of ventricle activation. That's the backup system all vertebrates have. Birds, lizards. Everything. Here is something interesting: my heart went down to a consistent 22 when I slept at the hospital. The nurses apparently gathered around the remote monitoring screen because they had never seen that before. If I got up and walked around I could get it back, momentarily, to low 40s. Then they could take my BP. Otherwise, no dice, just like you. I didn't tell them that I did a few deep knee bends in the bathroom to help with the BP acquisition. Just trying to help them do their job.
It is like telling a MLB pitcher how to throw a curve ball. I am glad I got it right! We tend to pay attention to things that affect our above ground status. My heart is so dumb it said: "Ok. So you aren't going to give me anymore instructions? Then I'll just do it myself!"
Thank you, Jim, for this easy to understand explanation of the structure and operation of the heart. I have a Bioteonic pacemaker. In 2015 I was diagnosed with a complete Type 2 Heart Blockage. The doctor explained that my heart rythmn was out of whack and that my EKG was unreadable and showed no definite heartbeats, just static. He later said my heart was beating (after a fashion) at 30 beats a minute, and that I had congestive heart failure as a result. They kept me overnight and installed the wrong pacemaker the next day. Since it was only connected to my right ventricle, after a year the nerve connections to the left side of the heart began to fail and I was right back where I’d been before. He apologized at that time and installed a better pacemaker wired to both sides of the heart, plus the atrium. Finally, I had normal heart function again! I am grateful for this technology, for my heart health has been restored now.
As a Physician, I thoroughly enjoyed your description of the mechanics of the cardiovascular system. Amazing it took centuries before Harvey kind of figured it out. I think it’s also interesting. that is an organ that keeps us alive. The heart is rather dumb and works like a mule or Ox taking direction from various electrical and hormonal sources and when given no direction, it’s simply chugs along sometimes well, and sometimes not so well. I call it our dumbest organ. The kidney, on the other hand, I think is our smartest organ. It decides all sorts of things on a minute by minute schedule to keep so much of our metabolism in line.
You only liked it because I quickly got down to the heart of the matter. Thanks.
Susan,
Please send it around. It may help somebody.
Jim
Yes. Mine was a total block. When you hear that you thought "What? My arteries are clogged?" No. The block is in the electrical system. If you were at 30 then your top half was not talking to bottom half. You were on "escape mode" in terms of ventricle activation. That's the backup system all vertebrates have. Birds, lizards. Everything. Here is something interesting: my heart went down to a consistent 22 when I slept at the hospital. The nurses apparently gathered around the remote monitoring screen because they had never seen that before. If I got up and walked around I could get it back, momentarily, to low 40s. Then they could take my BP. Otherwise, no dice, just like you. I didn't tell them that I did a few deep knee bends in the bathroom to help with the BP acquisition. Just trying to help them do their job.
Since mine was at 30 for a couple months, my total may be a bit short.
It is like telling a MLB pitcher how to throw a curve ball. I am glad I got it right! We tend to pay attention to things that affect our above ground status. My heart is so dumb it said: "Ok. So you aren't going to give me anymore instructions? Then I'll just do it myself!"
Thank you for this very good article!
How amazing our bodies are made and how they operate.
Here are more amazing points to ponder, well, actually a mathematics
problem.
Question: In a lifetime, how many times does your heart beat?
Approximate solution:
Lifespan of 75 years. Let’s just say a heart rate of 70 beats per minute.
Do the math: 70 beats times 60 seconds per minute. Multiply your answer by 60 (60 minutes in an hour).
Multiply that answer by 24 (24 hours in a day). Multiply your answer by 365 because there are that many days in a year.
If we use 75 years as the lifespan, then multiply the annual heart beats times 75 years.
Of course this is very approximate information, but it gives us a sense of how miraculous our bodies are.
Excellent piece, thank you so much!
Thank you, Jim, for this easy to understand explanation of the structure and operation of the heart. I have a Bioteonic pacemaker. In 2015 I was diagnosed with a complete Type 2 Heart Blockage. The doctor explained that my heart rythmn was out of whack and that my EKG was unreadable and showed no definite heartbeats, just static. He later said my heart was beating (after a fashion) at 30 beats a minute, and that I had congestive heart failure as a result. They kept me overnight and installed the wrong pacemaker the next day. Since it was only connected to my right ventricle, after a year the nerve connections to the left side of the heart began to fail and I was right back where I’d been before. He apologized at that time and installed a better pacemaker wired to both sides of the heart, plus the atrium. Finally, I had normal heart function again! I am grateful for this technology, for my heart health has been restored now.
As a Physician, I thoroughly enjoyed your description of the mechanics of the cardiovascular system. Amazing it took centuries before Harvey kind of figured it out. I think it’s also interesting. that is an organ that keeps us alive. The heart is rather dumb and works like a mule or Ox taking direction from various electrical and hormonal sources and when given no direction, it’s simply chugs along sometimes well, and sometimes not so well. I call it our dumbest organ. The kidney, on the other hand, I think is our smartest organ. It decides all sorts of things on a minute by minute schedule to keep so much of our metabolism in line.
What a beautifully written and simple explanation of how the heart works. THANK YOU. THIS is a keeper.