Is+the+Heart+the+Most+Valuable+Organ?

=The Most Valuable Organ: The Heart= There is no unimportant organ in the human body, although many would say the heart is the most valuable organ within the body. The heart is the supply center for the body; it pumps and filters blood and oxygen . Unless the heart gets the oxygen-rich blood to your brain, you would //not be living//. It is the central organ of the circulatory system, acting as a pump in relation to the blood vessels. Besides the lungs, the heart is the only organ in the body through which all the blood passes in every cycle. The involuntary actions of the heart are necessary to live.  The heart is responsible for supplying blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the rest of the body.

=The Pragmatist's Take: The Heart= It is needless to say that if not for the heart's pumping prowess, humans would be well... dead. After all, only the heart has the capability to constantly circulate millions and millions of blood cells and platelets, along with waste particles, plasma, and sugars to and from the farthest reaches of the human body. In fact, the heart pumps 6 quarts of blood approximately 12,000 miles per day! Does this, however, merit the heart as the most valuable organ?

With the exception of vestigial structures, no organ is superfluous. Form //does// follow function, after all. Consequently, it should be with //much// concession that one declares the heart to be the most valuable of organs. It's all comparative, after all. If you had to pick, would you choose a heart or a brain? There is really no correct answer. A heart that does not beat is no better than a brain that is instantly starved. Skin or a heart? The same predicament arises. In short, there is really no most valuable organ, for in the vast majority of cases, organs are correlated to the point of dependence.

Video all about the heart and why it is such an important organ. http://www.heartlibrary.com/heart-library-heart-anatomy.aspx?flashmov=heart-anatomy&currPage=HD   Since the heart lies at the center of the blood delivery system, it is therefore central to life, making it the most valuable organ in the human body. Blood both supplies oxygen from the lungs to the other organs and tissues and removes carbon dioxide to the lungs, where the gas is breathed out. Blood also distributes nourishment from the digestive system and hormones from glands. Likewise our immune system cells travel in the bloodstream, seeking out infection, and blood takes the body's waste products to the kidneys and liver to be sorted out and trashed. Given the heart's many essential functions, it seems wise to take care of it. Yet **heart disease** has risen steadily over the last century, especially in industrialized countries, due largely to changes in diet and lifestyle. It has become the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, claiming almost 700,000 lives a year, or 29 percent of the annual total. Worldwide, 7.2 million people die from heart disease every year.
 * Blood Delivery**

Interactive Heart Video: Heart Attack/Healthy Heart http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/heart-article.html

= = The heart is one of the [|critical] organs of an animal's body, as it pumps oxygenated blood to feed the body's biological functions. The cessation of the heartbeat, referred to as [|cardiac arrest], is a critical emergency. Without intervention, death can occur within minutes of cardiac arrest since the [|brain] requires a continuous supply of oxygen and cannot survive for long if that supply is cut off. =(since everyone's is talking about why the heart is the most important, this is why the heart isn't the most important)= =Find Out Which Organ Is Most Important=

Drs. Oz And Roizen Explain Why the Liver Is So Important
May 5, 2008 Some organs get plenty of press. News stories and resources about the heart, lungs and skin are commonplace. But according to Mehmet Oz, Oprah Winfrey's favorite go-to-doc, the liver is the body's most important organ and it gets little play. The body's largest internal organ is its gateway, and the liver's detoxification system can be easily overloaded in this chemical age, where foods are treated. Oz and Michael F. Roizen, co-founder and chairman of RealAge Inc. and a co-author with Oz, explain how the liver operates and how you can keep it working with the right foods and supplements in their book, "You: The Owner's Manual." Read an excerpt below. If your organs were celebrities, you'd immediately know how they stacked up in terms of status and fame. The heart and brain reign as biological kings. They're the A-listers, the ones that get all the attention, the glory, the magazine covers, the best tables, and the medical paparazzi detailing every minute of their existence. Then there are the B-list organs, like the stomach, the lungs, the skin, and the sex organs. [|Dr. Oz Aims to Thwart Childhood Obesity]Of course they're on our radar, we know what they do, and we'd surely recognize them if we saw them out and about combing the malls. Lastly, there are the C-listers—those organs that we might know by name but couldn't tell you much about. Yup, they're the organs with serious respectability problems; no matter how much good they do, they can't get a lick of press. Specifically, we're talking about the Rodney Dangerfield of internal organs: the liver. Sure, you know a little something about it (filters your tequila, right?), but that's about it. The reality is that few of us know much about the liver and its digestive neighbor, the pancreas. If you were to play medical word association (you do, don't you?), most of you would probably answer the same way. We say liver? You say booze. We say pancreas? You say diabetes. We say liver and pancreas? You say get to the point already. And you're right: Those two organs are associated primarily with alcohol and obesity. But to stereotype the liver and pancreas in that way would be like saying that your brain's only function is memory or the only thing your private parts are good for is eliminating the morning's coffee. And that's a shame, considering the biological miracles that the liver performs every day. Consider this: The liver is the only internal organ that can regenerate itself.....................

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/Story?id=4783391&page=1

The Heart and What it Does http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/