25 Incredible Facts About the Human Heart

Edited By: Shai K.

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The human heart is perhaps one of the biggest engineering miracles in the world. It works tirelessly, for the many years of our lives, to pump vitality through our body. Since ancient times, we have expressed our admiration for this amazing organ, keeping us alive and well. Our heart is our biggest defender as well as the chink in our armor, being the most prevalent cause of death in many countries, specifically developed countries.

Here are 25 facts you may not have known about your incredible heart.

Every day you are alive, your heart creates enough energy to power a truck for 20 miles of driving.

For your whole lifetime, that would be enough to drive that truck to the moon and back.

Your heart pumps blood to almost all of your cells, quite a feat considering there are about 75 trillion of them.

Only our corneas receive no blood supply.

Of all your muscles, the heart does the most physical work.

During a normal life span, the heart will pump about 1.5 million barrels of blood - enough to fill about 200 train tank cars.

The first heart - a tiny group of cells, begins to beat as early as when the pregnancy is in its 4th week.

The biggest heart on earth belongs to the blue whale, with a heart that weighs 1,500 pounds.

Studies show an interesting link between education and heart disease. More education=less heart disease.

That said, heart disease is still the greatest threat to your health.

It has even been found in mummies over 3,000 years old.

A few things that keep your heart healthy: Lack of stress, exercise, happiness and a healthy diet!

Of the days of the year, Christmas Day sees the most heart attacks, followed by December 26th, followed by New Year.

The time when the most heart attacks occur? Monday morning.

The size of a heart valve is roughly the size of a 50 cent coin.

The very first pacemakers had to be plugged into the wall. Suffice to say, those patients did not do much walking.

The heart is amazingly resilient, and provided with oxygen, can continue beating even after separated from the body.

The first cardiac catheterization was performed in 1929, with the doctor, a German surgeon by the name Wener Forssmann, putting the catheter in his own arm vein, and examining his own heart.

The first successful heart transplant was performed in 1967 by Dr. Christian Barnard of South Africa. The recipient only lived 18 days, it was a huge medical breakthrough.

If you grab a tennis ball and squeeze it with all your might, you would roughly understand how hard the heart works to pump blood, every second of every day.

Typically, a woman's heart will beat faster than a man's.

Laughter has terrific benefits for your heart. Laughter can actually send 20% more blood flowing through your entire body, relaxing the walls of your vessels.

Why has the heart become such a symbol of love? Maybe it is because the ancients believed the heart was the center of our soul and emotion? Some historians believe it began with the Greek culture, and not before.

People can actually die from a broken heart. After suffering a terrible loss or traumatic event, the body releases stress hormones into your bloodstream that can temporarily mimic the symptoms of a heart attack, even causing heart failure.