The chest is like a busy epicenter of the town where many body’s systems like – the heart, circulatory system, esophagus, trachea, lungs, and thoracic region live. The thoracic spine is attached to the rib cage and runs from the base of the neck to the abdomen.
The heart is like the goal keeper in football or hockey whose job is to keep people alive. The heart beats at an average rate of 72 times a minute and circulates blood to the lungs, where it comes in contact with the oxygen from the capillaries.
The lungs are a crucial and complex part of the central of the respiratory system. It is a spongy, pink colored organ that resembles two upside-down cones inside the chest. It contains a right and left part. The right lung has three lobes while the left lung has two lobes to leave enough space for the heart.
The lung lies just beneath the trachea (windpipe), bronchi and alveoli. They are like tiny branches of a tree (almost as thick as a human hair) stretching into virtually every part of your lungs. Though themselves quite small in size, put together these organs are bigger in the size than a tennis court and capable enough to provide sufficient oxygen to the body.
Every time we breathe oxygen is pumped into our lungs and helps to oxygenate the blood inside the body. The Oxygen-rich blood inside the lungs moves back to the heart from where it is circulated to the arteries and aortas which quickly deliver it to the chest and other parts of the body.
The circulatory system is the most hardworking system in chest with a network of arteries and veins which pumps around 7570 liters of oxygenated blood and nutrients to different part of the body 24×7 each day. It has blood throughout your body and helps exhale the carbon dioxide produced due to the body’s metabolism.
A small butterfly-shaped organ – the thymus – another important tissue in the chest located between the heart sternum, and breastbone. It is a part of the immune system and assigned to produce T lymphocytes (also known as T cells) a type of white blood cell. The “T” stands for thymus, where the cells originate. The T cells are the soldiers whose job is to protect the body and destroy the invaders.
Like the saying – the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in the war, the thymus recruits, and trains the soldiers and the body’s defenses to be always ready to fight a battle. After undergoing the training and strengthening inside the thymus – the respective cells get transformed into multi functional, killing machine ready to take on the invading bacteria’s, virus, germs or infections.
Another defensive element of the body is the liver which also stays inside the chest and is the body’s largest glandular organ. Its functions include detoxification of blood, destroy old blood cells and breakdown the fat consumed in the food we eat. The liver also produces the bile juice and a cocktail of enzymes and acids which helps the stomach to digest food.
The liver and stomach are neighbors who live in the lower part of the chest at the bottom of the rib cage and the thoracic diaphragm. A layer of muscles acts a separator between the chest and abdominal cavity.Top of Form
Every cell of the body needs oxygen to stay alive and healthy. Your body also needs to get rid of carbon dioxide. This gas is a waste product that is made by the cells during their normal, everyday functions. Your lungs are specially designed to exchange these gases every time you breathe in and out.
