The Human Heart

The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.f Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day.c A kitchen faucet would need to be turned on all the way for at least 45 years to equal the amount of blood pumped by the heart in an average lifetime.a The volume of blood pumped by the heart can vary over a wide range, from five to 30 liters per minute.e Every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.a Because the heart has its own electrical impulse, it can continue to beat even when separated from the body, as long as it has an adequate supply of oxygen.c The fetal heart rate is approximately twice as fast as an adult’s, at about 150 beats per minute. By the time a fetus is 12 weeks old, its heart pumps an amazing 60 pints of blood a day.g The heart pumps blood to almost all of the body’s 75 trillion cells. Only the corneas receive no blood supply.c A healthy heart pumps approximately 2,000 gallons of blood a day During an average lifetime, the heart will pump nearly 1.5 million barrels of blood—enough to fill 200 train tank cars.a Five percent of blood supplies the heart, 15-20% goes to the brain and central nervous system, and 22% goes to the kidneys.a