In the time it takes you to read my column, your heart is pumping about five quarts of blood (that’s about 10 pints) through more than 60,000 miles of arteries, veins and capillaries-that’s further than twice around the world.
Depending on how long you live, your heart could beat three billion times in your lifetime. Your fist is about the size of your heart. The organ is not heart-shaped at all; it’s more like a cone and weighs about 11 ounces. The heart is a muscle sandwiched between two protected layers. Inside are four chambers, two on the right and two on the left. Blood that is low in oxygen, from all parts of the body, returns to the right side of the heart to be pumped through the lungs where oxygen is replenished. Then, once again, it is pumped all around the body by the left side of the heart.
So, you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this? Well, quite simply, your heart’s purpose in life is life support. No heartbeat: no life.
February is National Heart Month and in this issue’s “Can We Talk” column (pg 16), I interview Colin Eaton and his son Eric. Eric was born with Aortic Stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve in the heart, which in turns restricts blood through the valve. This is an amazing story of courage, strength and inspiration. In “Inside Out” (pg 15), Ambrose Marsh, Chief of Staff at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital, paints a better picture of your heart but expresses that ultimately, it’s up to you what advice you will take.
Then there is love of the heart. Valentine’s Day is around the corner and love is in the air. With heart-shaped goodies, chocolates, roses and love and romance everywhere, it’s the week of the year when it’s OK to be sappy and happy. In the “Light Side” (pg 50), Tom Watson shares his thoughts on The Big V!
So follow the yellow brick road to health and happiness, counting yourself lucky that, unlike the Tin Man, you have a heart, so let’s protect it.
