Doctor Who is an alien who has more than one heart, that's just sci-fi isn't it? Well there are actually some creatures a little closer to home that also have more than one heart. Octopuses and squid have three hearts! They have two hearts which pump blood to the gills. The third heart pumps blood to the rest of the body.
There are actually some humans who have more than one heart. But they weren't born with them. It is called a piggyback heart and it is a type of heart transplant. It is used for patients with cardiomyopathy, which can make the heart grow to twice the size it should be; the heart could then stop working.
But instead of replacing the heart with a donor heart, they just disconnect some of it and hook up the new heart right next to it. So the new heart takes over most of the pumping and the old heart carries on working but with reduced pressure.
In there was a major breakthrough in the field when Hannah Clark had the operation reversed! She was given the second heart as a baby but 10 years later her body rejected it. Because her old heart had been resting all this time it was able to function properly again so doctors hooked up her old heart and it began beating all by itself again.
Follow the link to find out more about Hannah and her amazing story:. Aside from conjoined twins, no human is born with two hearts. But in the case of extreme heart disease, called cardiomyopathy, rather than receiving a donor heart and removing yours, doctors can graft a new heart on to your own to help share the work. This is more commonly known as a piggy-back heart.
Some animals like the octopus have more than one heart. Jeffrey Utz, Neuroscience, pediatrics, Allegheny University, different people have different percentages of their bodies made up of water. However, fat tissue does not have as much water as lean tissue. There just wouldn't be any you, me, or Fido the dog without the existence of an ample liquid water supply on Earth.
The unique qualities and properties of water are what make it so important and basic to life. The cells in our bodies are full of water. The excellent ability of water to dissolve so many substances allows our cells to use valuable nutrients, minerals, and chemicals in biological processes. Water's "stickiness" from surface tension plays a part in our body's ability to transport these materials all through ourselves.
The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream. No less important is the ability of water to transport waste material out of our bodies. Looking at water, you might think that it's the most simple thing around. Pure water is practically colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
But it's not at all simple and plain and it is vital for all life on Earth. Where there is water there is life, and where water is scarce, life has to struggle or just "throw in the towel. Surface tension in water might be good at performing tricks, such as being able to float a paper clip on its surface, but surface tension performs many more duties that are vitally important to the environment and people.
Find out all about surface tension and water here. We need to take the statement "Water is the universal solvent" with a grain of salt pun intended. It pumps with a strong force—about the same force it takes for your hand to squeeze a tennis ball— and helps keep you going each day. Search for:. Videos Activities Podcasts.
Universe: What would happen if you had 3 hearts and one stopped? What would happen if we had three hearts and one of them stopped? Sincerely, Dr.
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