Human Flora
Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Rebecca Gillaspy
Dr. Gillaspy has taught health science at University of Phoenix and Ashford University and has a degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic.
The amount of blood being pumped through your body changes constantly due to the demands of daily life. In this lesson, you will learn how your body adjusts the heart rate and stroke volume to increase or decrease blood flow.
Cardiac Output
The volume of blood your heart pumps per minute, known as your cardiac output, varies with the demands you put on your body. We previously learned that the cardiac output (CO) is calculated by multiplying the number of heartbeats per minute (which is your heart rate, or HR) times the volume of blood pumped out of the heart with each heartbeat (which is your stroke volume, or SV). So:
cardiac output (CO) = heart rate (HR) x stroke volume (SV)
The cardiac output of your heart is a constantly changing amount that adjusts to any physical or emotional demands you put on your body. In this lesson, we will look at some of the factors that influence your heart rate and stroke volume.
