Heart: First Aid

The failure of the heart, vital organs may require support matter of extreme urgency:
The cardiac arrest is a medical emergency absolute. It manifests itself in a state called "apparent death":
unconsciousness: that is to say the lack of reaction to pain or a simple verbal order,
stop the breathing, which can be seen by observing the absence of movement of the chest and the absence of any respiratory noise,
and abolition of pulse, in particular, carotid (this is not a reliable: With the stress, the person seeking to take the pulse sometimes feels his own pulse at the fingertips).

In 90% of sudden deaths in adults, the heart is in fibrillation ventricular. When one is faced with such a case, immediately call the emergency and then immediately begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation while waiting for help, to improve the chances of survival based on a medical treatment that can very quickly allow early defibrillation.
The chest pain, a little bit extended, may be indicative of a myocardial infarction whose treatment of choice is the more rapid revascularization can be occluded coronary artery. Again, the call for emergency medical services is imperative in doubt.
Discomfort, shortness important palpitations poorly tolerated may be indicative of heart failure can worsen quickly and warrant urgent medical call.

The heart of other animals


Structure

The structure of the heart of other mammals and birds is similar to that of man with four bedrooms.

The amphibians have a heart with three chambers, like the frog example. The fish have a circulatory system rather than simple double and a two-chamber heart. The hearts of arthropods and molluscs have only one room.


beat of the heart

Smaller animals generally have a heart beat faster. Young animals have a heart beat faster than adults to the same species.

Some heart rate depending on the species:

Whale Gray     9 times per minute
Seal Joint     10 times per minute (diving)
140 times per minute (on earth)
Elephant     25 times per minute
Being Human     60-120 times per minute
Sparrow     500 times per minute
Shrew     600 times per minute
Hummingbirds     up to 1 200 times per minute in flight for some species


There is also a link between the average lifespan in a species and heart rate in this case. Species with slow heart usually have greater longevity.


History and symbolism


From Antiquity to the Renaissance: hesitation on the part of the heart

The heart has long been considered the seat of sensation and voluntary movement. Without doubt the increased heart rate during emotion is at the origin of this belief.

Aristotle (fourth century BC.) Has assigned this role, while Galen (second century) stood rather these functions in the brain.

The Middle Ages has long hesitated between the two. Turisanus denied the heart of faculty status after a power of the soul 

It was not until the eighteenth century that the heart begins to be permanently deposed from his post as head of sensations, with the works of Franz Joseph Gall, then François Broussais on the brain.

Some more recent works have shown the roles of the two hemispheres of the brain, with a specialization of each hemisphere. The right brain is thus considered as one who deals with emotions, and as more holistic (on this point Symmetry brain). We will also consult the work done by psychologist Tony Buzan in the 1970s on the functions of the cerebral hemispheres.


The heart retains its symbolic function

The heart: symbol of love

The heart is not only an organ essential to life, it also represents the love. The heart is the symbol of love is metaphorically gives his heart to the person you love to show him that he entrusts his life. This is probably due to cardiac acceleration caused by the emotion (the stress) when you think of the loved one (due to the elevated blood pressure, there beats the heart in his chest, heart "pounding").

In fact, the word heart refers more broadly what is in the center (the heart of the problem at the heart of the night .... It is thus important to understand that when some Eastern authors speak from the heart of man, these authors speak the center of the man (center of gravity, or hara located 2 fingers' breadth below the navel) and not the heart-body). The heart is symbolically tied to everything that is most important, more important, we all need our lungs to our heart than to live, but it seems that it is however far more important in our subconscious since He has acquired a prominent place in our language in representing the love, the generosity, the franchise, the courage ...

In religion, the Sacred Heart is the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ.

In the ancient times, the treated anatomy viewed the heart as the seat of emotions, passion, commitment, courage, mind, intelligence and memory.


The heart in art

Jeff Koons was a giant heart (about 3 m high) steel painted red and copper, "Hanging Heart". This work has been awarded $ 23.5 million in November 2007, the highest price assigned to a living artist.