Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

The Vascular System

Here in the Olympic sized swimming pool, they are as far from their element as they could possibly be.

As with everything else in human history, humans adapted to swimming, likely when climate change turned their lush savannah to desert, pushing the animals north and forcing some humans into colder climates, or, towards the sea, where they had to learn to fish, and to swim.

Still, this is not their natural habitat, and the human body has to work hard to keep itself on the surface, not to mention going at any sort of speed is taxing.

Deep inside the human thoracic cavity lives one of the organs responsible for human life, and may be the difference between victory or defeat in this competition of aquatic strength and speed.

The Heart.

The human heart is an organ comprised primarily of muscle, like the biceps or the pectoral muscle, however, unlike all other muscles in the human body, the heart will expand and contract continuously from five to six weeks in-utero and will continue to beat for up to 122 years (the oldest human ever recorded). That is 12 decades of non-stop expansion and contraction without exhaustion or fatigue, if everything goes well, of course.

In order to beat, the heart generates its own electrical current to keep the pace steady and even.

It would be incorrect to say that the heart is the MOST important organ in the human body as that would be disqualifying the brain, the lungs , and the skin without which human life would be impossible, but it is safe to say that it is one of the most important organs in the body.

While the human body is a complex system, the heart and its 60,000 miles of veins arteries and capillaries is responsible for pulling the whole system together and keeping it functioning.

How does it do this?

By transporting one of the most important liquids in the human body.

Blood.

Each adult human contains about 3-4 quarts of blood, which is forced through the miles and miles of blood vessels by way of the heart. The heart muscle is about the size of a human fist and is so strong it can crush a tennis ball with tis contraction, it needs to be strong in order to push blood throughout the body, especially upwards into the head where the brain is located, with as much energy as the brain uses it needs a lot of blood to function.

Why is blood so important?

As These swimmers move through the water, they are going to need a lot of it to allow their muscles to function. In fact, they are going to need blood for a lot of things if they want to continue this race, if not continue living all together.

Human blood serves a multitude of important functions: It carries antibodies and cells that fight infections, it collects and carries dead cells and other waste products to be disposed of by the kidneys and liver, it helps to regulate temperature, carries clothing agents to prevent blood loss if the skin is breached, and most importantly for these swimmers, it carries oxygen to cells and tissue all around the body.

Blood itself is made up of a multitude of components.

Plasma, makes up most of the contents of blood, and primarily represents the liquid substance responsible for carrying red and white blood cells around the body It is made up of water, salt, protein, sugar and fat, and must remain the correct consistency to flow properly. For instance, if a human is dehydrated, the blood can grow thick making it difficult to flow properly and forcing the heart to work harder than necessary.

Then there are the red blood cells, small disk-shaped cells without a nucleus, whose primary job is to carry oxygen throughout the body. Red blood cells are flexible and intended to fit through small spaces. These red blood cells begin their life in the bone marrow and stay there up to seven days before being released in the blood; as they travel these red blood cells will become damaged, and last only 120 days before the blood carries them, like the rest of its waste products to the liver for disposal.