In this lesson we’re going to take an overall look at the circulatory system.

When we start talking about the circulatory system it really includes two different systems. You have the cardiovascular system, and the lymphatic system.

The primary purpose of the cardiovascular system is to circulate blood throughout the body. What ends up happening is the red blood cells carry and deliver oxygen to tissues.

The lymphatic system is an extension of the circulatory system. But what it does is a little bit different. The primary purpose of the lymphatic system is to transport lymph fluid throughout the body. Lymph fluid is a fluid that goes and delivers white blood cells and helps the immune system fight off foreign invaders.

What’s included in the circulatory system?

The first part is the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system contains the heart, and all the blood vessels. Now there are different types of blood vessels which are examined in depth in another lesson, so I encourage you to check that out. But on the surface the cardiovascular system contains arteries, arterioles, venules, veins, and even capillaries.

The lymphatic system on the other hand contains lymph nodes, lymph vessels, lymph fluid. The other thing about the lymphatic system is that it doesn’t actually have an active pump. And part of that process is that the lymphatic system, especially in the arms and legs, require muscle to transport that fluid back. When muscles contract, it squeezes all of the lymphatic so long, until it comes back into the heart.

Okay, so let’s talk about the components a little bit more in-depth. Now the main process of the circulatory system is too literally circulate fluid. They’re two different types of fluid that we look at or talking about the circulatory system, and that’s blood and lymph fluid. Blood contain cells, and plasma. And then you’ve got the lymph fluid which is a fluid that’s involved in fighting off those foreign Invaders.

And the way it does this is that it needs a pathway to deliver all of the fluid throughout the body and there are multiple ways that this is done. But the primary pass for these are through vessels. It’s both blood vessels and Lymph vessels.

So now you have the fluid, and the vessels, which of the ways for all of the fluids to get to all the tissues, so how does it get there? Well it’s done with the heart. The heart is the primary mover for all of the fluid throughout the body. The heart is a muscular pump and its primary responsibility is to get the fluid moving throughout the body.

And then you have the lymph nodes. The way I like to think of lymph nodes are that there like toll booths. As the lymph fluid goes back a long back to the heart, the lymph fluid has to stop And pay the toll. In this process, white blood cells are stored in the lymph nodes, and this is also where the filtering of any bacteria or viruses happens.

Okay so let’s recap.

About the functions of the circulatory system, it’s to transport fluid throughout the body.

The circulatory system is made up of two systems. There’s the cardiovascular system, and then the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular system contains the heart and blood vessels, and lymphatic system contains lymph nodes, lymph vessels, and lymph fluid.

And that’s all we have for the introduction into the circulatory system.

Make sure you check out all the resources attached to this lesson.

Now go out, and be your best selves today, and as always happy nursing.