Cardiology & Cardiovascular System

Updated: Aug 31, 2022

What is Cardiology?

Cardiology is a branch of internal medicine that deals with the heart. Cardiologists diagnose, and treat disorders and defects in the heart such as congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, electrophysiology, heart failure and valvular heart disease. There are also sub-specialties that include, but are not limited to, cardiac electrophysiology, echocardiography, interventional cardiology and nuclear cardiology.

What is the cardiovascular system?

The cardiovascular, or the circulatory system, is defined by Oxford Dictionary as, “the system that circulates blood and lymph through the body, consisting of the heart, blood vessels, blood, lymph, and the lymphatic vessels and glands.” Our cardiovascular system consists of the coronary arteries, which carry blood away from the heart, to other parts of the body, and the coronary veins, which carry blood to the heart. Some functions of blood are: transporting oxygen to the lungs and body cells, forming blood clots to prevent blood loss, and carrying white blood and antibodies cells that fight off microbes, bringing waste to the kidney and liver, and regulating body temperature. Hemoglobin is a very vital protein in red blood cells as it carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. While blood clots are typically seen as a bad thing, we need our blood to clot when we are injured so we prevent losing blood. You can be prone to “blood clots” through hereditary means, any illnesses you may have or had in the past, or a problem with the clot becoming too big on its own.

The parts of blood:

The 4 main parts of blood are plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells.

Plasma: Plasma is the liquid part of our blood. It is made up of water, sugar, fat, protein, and salt. The main job of the plasma is to transport blood cells throughout your body along with nutrients, waste products, antibodies, clotting proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and proteins that help maintain the body's fluid balance.

Platelets: Platelets are small fragments of a cell. It helps our blood to clot, to prevent blood loss. It does this by gathering where an injury is, sticking to the lining of the injured blood vessel, and creating a platform where blood clotting can occur. The fibrin clot forming, which prevents the blood from leaking out of the wound, is a direct effect of this process.

Red Blood Cells: Red blood cells amount to nearly 45% of the entire volume of blood. A red blood cell is in the shape of a biconcave disk (picture below). In simpler terms, it's a disk, with two flattened edges in the middle. This is so it can flow smoothly though narrow blood vessels. Red blood cells production is controlled by a hormone called erythropoietin. Red blood cells begin as immature cells in bone marrow, and after about 7 days of maturing, they go into the bloodstream. The red blood cell has an average “lifespan” of 120 days. Hematology finds, “Red cells contain a special protein called hemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and then returns carbon dioxide from the body to the lungs so it can be exhaled. Blood appears red because of the large number of red blood cells, which get their color from the hemoglobin. The percentage of whole blood volume that is made up of red blood cells is called the hematocrit and is a common measure of red blood cell levels.”

White Blood Cells: Lastly, we have white blood cells. White blood cells take up about 1% of your blood, but their functionality isn’t quite as small. They help fight against infections. Hematology shows that, “The most common type of white blood cell is the neutrophil, which is the ‘immediate response’ cell and accounts for 55 to 70 percent of the total white blood cell count. Each neutrophil lives less than a day, so your bone marrow must constantly make new neutrophils to maintain protection against infection...The other major type of white blood cell is a lymphocyte. There are two main populations of these cells. T lymphocytes help regulate the function of other immune cells and directly attack various infected cells and tumors. B lymphocytes make antibodies, which are proteins that specifically target bacteria, viruses, and other foreign materials.”

Transfusions:

A blood transfusion is giving blood from a donor to a patient through an IV for the means of helping place materials in your blood that may be low to you. Blood transfusions are typically given in case of dire situations to save a life. You may need it because of diseases such as sickle cell disease, anemia, and certain cancers. They also provide components of blood that you may not have as much of such as cryoprecipitate, plasma, platelets, and red blood cells. You would typically get this blood when a donor donated their blood. A blood bank then holds onto the blood until a hospital requires it. When the blood is in use, the blood gets hooked up to an IV. At the end of the IV, there's a needle that goes into your vein, where the blood is deposited. This process takes, on average, 1-3 hours. Some risks of doing blood transfusions are contracting diseases such as, HIV, HEP B, HEP C, and bacterial contamination. You can also have side effects from blood transfusions such as, breathing problems, fevers, chills, rashes, and hemolytic transfusion reaction, which is your body trying to destroy the transfused blood. Recovery after a transfusion takes 24-48 hours.

Salary:

Cardiologists come in as the 7th highest paid doctor as of 2019, at an annual salary of $527, 231. And, more than 50% of all cardiologists in the United States report having a net worth between $1 million - $5 million. Additionally, a source finds that cardiologists are one of the happiest people in the United States, making monetary value not the only perk of being a cardiologist. However, we see that becoming a cardiologist is one of the most difficult careers, as it is study intensive and you have to go through many years of training and cardiologists have to go through 3 years of residency training.

Sources:

Cardiology & Cardiovascular System

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