Activity 1.

24 Check your notes for Topic 1:

Lifestyle, health and risk
Purpose
To help you get your notes in order at the end of this topic.
Topic 1 summary
Make sure your notes cover the following points. The points are listed in the order they
appear within the topic. All the points are covered in the textbook but where there is
supporting information within activities this is indicated. There are suggestions on making
notes and on revision in the Exam/coursework support.
You should know the following points:
1 Why many animals have a heart and circulation. (Checkpoint question 1.1)
- To move substances around the body
- other organisms are small enough to move substances by diffusion which is too slow for
larger animals
- multi-cellular animals are too large for substances to be moved quickly around their
bodies by diffusion alone.
- Therefore they have blood to transport substances and a heart to pump it instead of
relying on diffusion alone.

2 The structure of the mammalian heart. (Activities 1.3 and 1.4)

3 How the structures of blood capillaries, arteries and veins relate to their functions.
(Activity 1.5) (Checkpoint question 1.2)

Arteries
- narrow lumen
- thicker walls
- more collagen, elastic fibres and smooth muscle
- no valves
Veins
- wide lumen
- thinner walls
- less collagen, elastic fibres and smooth muscle
- valves
Capillaries
- join small arteries (arterioles) and small veins (venules)
- Very narrow, about 10 um in diameter
- walls only one cell thick
4 That the cardiac cycle includes diastole, atrial systole and ventricular systole.
(Activity 1.6) (Checkpoint question 1.3)
Atrial Systole

- Blood returns to the heart due to the action of breathing

- Blood under low pressure flows into left and right atria
- As atria fill pressure of blood against AV valves pushes them open
- Blood begins to leak into ventricles
- Atria walls contract, forcing more blood into ventricles.

The "a" wave occurs when the atrium contracts, increasing atrial pressure (yellow). Blood
arriving at the heart cannot enter the atrium so it flows back up the jugular vein, causing
the first discernible wave in the jugular venous pulse. Atrial pressure drops when the atria
stop contracting.
Ventricular systole

- Ventricles contract from the base of the heart upwards

- This increases pressures in the ventricles

- As a result blood is pushed up and out through the arteries

- Pressure of blood against AV vales closes them preventing blood flowing backwards into
atria

The AV valves close when the pressure in the ventricles (red) exceeds the pressure in the atria (yellow). As
the ventricles contract isovolumetrically -- their volume does not change (white) -- the pressure inside
increases, approaching the pressure in the aorta and pulmonary arteries (green).
Diastole

- Atria and ventricles relax during diastole

- Elastic recoil of the relaxing heart walls lowers pressure in atria and ventricles
- blood under higher pressures is drawn back towards ventricles
- This closes the semi-lunar valves preventing backflow
- Low pressure in the atria helps draw blood into the heart from the veins

While the ventricles continue contracting, the pressure in the ventricles (red) exceeds the pressure in the
aorta and pulmonary arteries (green); the semi-lunar valves open, blood exits the ventricles, and the
volume in the ventricles decreases rapidly (white). As more blood enters the arteries, pressure there builds
until the flow of blood reaches a peak.
The "c" wave of atrial pressure is not normally discernible in the jugular venous pulse. Right ventricular
contraction pushes the tricuspid valve into the atrium and increases atrial pressure, creating a small wave
into the jugular vein. It is normally simultaneous with the carotid pulse.

5 The structure and operation of the mammalian heart in relation to its function.
- Muscle this helps the heart create enough pressure to pump the blood around the body
- coronary arteries these feed the heart muscle with oxygenated blood
6 The course of events that leads to atherosclerosis including endothelial damage,
inflammatory response, plaque formation and raised blood pressure. (Activity 1.7)
- The endothelium becomes damaged for some reason e.g. high blood pressure which strains
cells in the endothelium or toxins from cigarette smoke.
- inner lining of artery is breached, causing an inflammatory response. Large white blood
cells leave the blood vessel to move into the artery wall. The cells accumulate chemicals in
the blood, particularly cholesterol. This build up is called an atheroma
- calcium salts and fibrous tissue also build up at the site, resulting in a hard swelling called
a plaque on the inner wall of artery. This causes wall to lose elasticity as it is hardened.
- plaques narrow the artery making it more difficult for heart to pump blood around the
body and can lead to raised blood pressure. Now there is dangerous positive feedback
building up, meaning because of the blood pressure more plaques are likely to form.
7 The blood-clotting process (thromboplastin release, conversion of prothrombin to
thrombin and of fibrinogen to fibrin) and its role in cardiovascular disease (CVD).
(Activity 1.7)
- vessel damage
- platelets come into contact with damaged vessel wall
- thromboplastin is released from damaged tissue and platelets
- platelets stick to damaged wall and to each other forming a platelet plug.
- cascade of changes results in prothrombin being converted to thrombin. Thrombin is an
enzymes that catalyses the the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin.
- fibrin strands form a tangled mesh that traps blood cells forming a clot.

 8 The symptoms of cardiovascular disease, i.e. coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.
(Checkpoint question 1.4)
- angina heart muscle is lacking oxygen so it respires anaerobically causing a sharp pain
in the chest or arm.
- heaviness, tightness, pain, burning and pressure behind the breastbone, sometimes in the
jaw, arm or neck.
- death of heart muscle cells if heart muscle cells do not receive oxygen they will die
- arrhythmia irregular beating of the heart. This can lead to heart failure.
9 The normal electrical activity of the heart, including the roles of the sino-atrial node
(SAN), the atrioventricular node (AVN) and the bundles of His (Activity 1.8)
(Checkpoint question 1.5)
- heart has electrical impulses and depolarization causes it to beat
- the impulse begins at the sinoatrial node. This is a small area of specialized muscle fibres
on the wall of the right atrium. This is also known as the pace maker. The (SAN) generates
an electrical impulse which spreads across the right and left atria as a wave of
depolarization, causing them to contract simultaneously
- impulse travels to the atrioventricular node (AVN). From here the impulse is conducted to
the ventricles after a delay of about 0.13 s. this ensures that atria have finished
contracting and that ventricles have filled with blood before contraction
- the signal the reaches the purkyne fibres, large specialized muscle fibres that conduct
impulses rapidly to the tip of the ventricles. There are the right and left bundles of fibres
called the bundle of His. The first ventricular cells to be depolarized are at the apex of
the heart, so that contraction begins at this point travelling upwards towards the atria,
producing a wave of contraction moving up the ventricles, pushing blood into the aorta and
pulmonary artery.
10 How electrocardiograms (ECGs) can aid the diagnosis of CVD and other heart
conditions. (Activity 1.9)
- ECGs can aid the diagnosis of heart conditions by determing whether the heart is
functioning properly or not.
- ecgs determine heart rate, and during tarchiardia, a heart rate greater than 100bpm
this can be a symptom of heart disease of heart failure.
11 Analysis of quantitative data on illness and mortality rates to determine health risks.
(Activity 1.10)

12 The difference between correlation and causation (Activity 1.10)

- Causation Changes in X cause changes in Y. For example, football weekends cause

heavier traffic, more food sales, etc
- Correlation Changes in X are related to Changes in Y, but there seems to be no link to
support the relation

13 Why peoples perceptions of risks are often different from the actual risks.
(Checkpoint question 1.6)
- Media
- involuntary
- not natural
- dreaded
- very small
- unfair
14 Risk factors for cardiovascular disease including age, gender, genetic inheritance, high
blood pressure, diet, smoking and inactivity. (Age and gender Activity 1.11. Genetic
inheritance Activity 1.12. Diet Activities 1.18 and 1.19) (Checkpoint question 1.7)
- genetic inheritance
- high blood pressure
- obesity
- blood cholesterol
- smoking
15 The meaning of blood pressure (Activities 1.13 and 1.14)
- The peripheral force exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels,
especially the arteries.
16 The role of high blood pressure in cardiovascular disease. (Activities 1.7 and 1.20)
- High blood pressure damages blood vessel walls, triggering a series of events leading to
plaque formation. This causes positive feedback which causes more plaques to be formed.
17 The differences between monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides
(glycogen and starch amylose and amylopectin) in terms of their structure and their role
in providing and storing energy. (Activity 1.15)
- a monosaccharide is a single sugar unit e.g. glucose. This simple sugar is easily absorbed

by muscles and is readily available for energy/ respiration.

- a disaccharide is a unit of two sugar units joint by a covalent bond e.g. maltose. Eating
complex sugars like these does not cause complex swings in blood/sugar levels as does
eating monosaccharides.
- a polysaccharide is a unit of three or more sugar units e.g. starch. They are used as
storage carbohydrates. In animals it is glycogen and in plants it is starch. They are suitable
for this because they are water insoluble therefore will not affect the concentration of
water in the cells cytoplasm. Starch comprises of amylase and amylopectin. Amylase has a
straight chain while amylopectin is branched. Most plants have 70-80% amylopectin and
about 20-30% amylose.

18 The structural formulae for a-glucose and maltose and the monomers which make up
sucrose and lactose. (Activity 1.15)

sucrose

- lactose
19 How monosaccharides can join to form polysaccharides through condensation reactions
forming glycosidic bonds. (Activity 1.15)
- monosaccharides join with covalent bonds in a condensation reaction
20 How polysaccharides can be split through hydrolysis reactions. (Activity 1.15)
- a hydrolysis reaction is a reversal on a condensation reaction. Water is now being added
back to separate sugar units.
21 How glycerol can attach to three fatty acids in condensation reactions to form a lipid
and specifically a triglyceride. (Activity 1.17)
- a condensation reaction enables glycerol to attach to three fatty acids to form a lipid/
triglyceride. Condensation forms ester bonds and three of these result in a triglyceride.
22 The differences between saturated and unsaturated lipids. (Activity 1.17)
- saturated lipids have no carbon to carbon double bonds, so no more hydrogens can be
added to the chain.
- unsaturated lipids have carbon to carbon double bonds that allow additional hydrogens to
be added to the chain.
23 How to calculate body mass indices (BMIs) using the formula BMI =
body mass(kg)/height2 (m) and explain their significance. (Activity 1.18)

BMI = body mass in kg

height/m
- BMI determines the weight category a person falls into. <20 is underweight and >25 is
overweight to obese
24 The possible significance for health of blood cholesterol levels and levels of
high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins (HDLs and LDLs).
- high levels of LDLs result in high blood cholesterol levels. This can cause issues like
atherosclerosis
- high levels of HDLs lower blood cholesterol levels. This helps remove fatty plaques
25 How the effect of caffeine on heart rate in Daphnia can be investigated
practically. (Activity 1.21)
- exposing the daphnia to caffeinated water to see if its heart rate increases or
descreases
- it would be expected to rise, but blind experiments are carried out so as not to create a
placebo effect.

26 How individuals, by changing their diet, taking exercise and not smoking, can
reduce their risk of CHD.
- Not smoking means there are no toxins in the blood to damage vessels.
No adrenaline increases cause by nicotine so heart beats normally
No HDL reductions caused by smoking
-

Exercise prevents high blood pressure, helps maintain a healthy weight and seems to
raise HDL levels without affecting LDL levels. It reduces the risk of developing type II
diabetes

Diet helps with intake of anti-oxidants. These eliminate radicals which damage cells.
Anti-oxidants seem to protect against heart disease.
Low salt levels eliminate the risk of high fluid levels in the blood which can result in
cardiovascular disease.

Alcohol consumption to an extent may protect against heart disease. This is because
moderate alcohol consumption is linked with higher HDL levels.