5 Things to Know About Your Heart for Valentine’s Day

Bethlehem, PA (02/14/2017) – It’s Valentine’s Day, the most popular day of the year as far as hearts go.

 

Plato theorized that passions originated in the “fiery” heart but that reasoning originated with the brain. And while it’s true that Valentine’s Day is usually dedicated to the romantic heart, St. Luke's University Health Network offers some fascinating, well-reasoned facts about one of the body’s most essential parts:

1. An adult heart is about the size of two hands clasped together.

2. Though it weighs only about 11 ounces, a heart pumps two ounces of blood with every heartbeat, 1.5 gallons every minute and up to at least 2,500 gallons daily.

3. A heart starts beating about 22 days after conception and continues until the end of life for an average of more than 100,000 beats each day and more than 3 billion beats during an average lifetime.

4. A heartbeat is the sound of the heart’s four valves closing.

5. A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s by about eight beats per minute.

Visit St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Center at heart.sluhn.org and click on our Tips and Wellness tab for additional information on healthy heart living.

Source: www.factretriever.com and Cleveland Clinic.

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated and nationally recognized network providing services at seven hospitals and more than 270 outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing health education, St. Luke’s operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing and 22 graduate medical educational programs and is considered a major teaching hospital, the only one in the region. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first Medical School. Repeatedly, including 2016, St. Luke’s has earned Truven’s 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation as well as 50 Top Cardiovascular program in addition to other honors for clinical excellence. St. Luke’s is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of St. Luke’s information technology applications such as electronic medical records, telehealth, online scheduling and pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers in comparison to major teaching hospitals and other health systems.

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