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How often does the average heart beat (expand and contract) each day? About 100,000 times. How much blood does it pump? About 2,000 gallons.
If you live to age 70, your heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
Blood flows through the circulatory system, the network of arteries, arterioles (small arteries) and capillaries (tiny blood vessels) that carry blood from the heart, and veins and venules (small veins) that carry blood back to the heart.
Arrhythmia is a general term for an irregular heartbeat. A heartbeat can be too fast (technical name: tachycardia), too slow (technical name: bradycardia), or simply irregular.
Most arrhythmias are not dangerous. In fact, about 2.2 million Americans have a type of arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation - and that is only one type of rhythm problem.
Some arrhythmias can lead to serious problems, including heart disease, stroke or sudden cardiac death. But a variety of treatments, including medicines, implantable defibrillators and pacemakers, can regulate the heartbeat and prevent those problems
It takes only a few hours to learn CPR, and when you do, you may save a life! Contact your local chapter of the Red Cross or American Heart Association to find out when and where courses are given.
The American Heart Association has courses that combine CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) training. They take only about four hours. Contact your local chapter to find out when they're given. You may save a life! Get information about AHA's CPR and AED classes at the American Heart Association web site.
You can join the American Heart Association's program to make AEDs - and people trained to use them - available in your community (in public areas such as sports arenas, office complexes, doctor's offices, shopping malls, gated communities etc.).
Get information about AHA's PAD program at the American Heart Association web site.
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