WEBVTT - How Heart Bypass Operations Work

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from house Stuff Works dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>where smart Happens, brought to you by Visa. We all

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<v Speaker 1>Brain with today's question. What is a heart bypass operation?

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<v Speaker 1>Your heart is an amazing organ. It beats thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>times each day, every day for your entire life. In

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<v Speaker 1>the process, it pumps about five million gallons of blood

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<v Speaker 1>through your body. Since the heart is a muscle, it

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<v Speaker 1>needs blood for the oxygen and nutrients it contains, but

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<v Speaker 1>it can't use the blood it's pumping. Instead, there are

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<v Speaker 1>arteries on the outside of the heart that provide the

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<v Speaker 1>blood that the muscle needs. If one of these outer

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<v Speaker 1>arteries gets clogged, it causes a heart attack. A blockage

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<v Speaker 1>like this is normally caused by fatty deposits that build

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<v Speaker 1>up in the hearts arteries over the course of many years.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything you hear about fat in the diet, cholesterol, coronary

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<v Speaker 1>artery disease, and clogged arteries is focused on this problem.

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<v Speaker 1>It turns out that blocked heart arteries and the heart

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<v Speaker 1>attacks they cause are a leading killer in the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>When one of the hearts arteries gets blocked and a

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<v Speaker 1>person has a heart attack, one common treatment is heart

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<v Speaker 1>bypass surgery. They sew in a new piece of blood

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<v Speaker 1>vessel to bridge over or bypass the blockage in an artery.

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<v Speaker 1>In many cases, the surgeon will fix not only the

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<v Speaker 1>immediate problem, but also other arteries on the heart that

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<v Speaker 1>are starting to look blocked. If the surgeon repairs three

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<v Speaker 1>of the arteries, it's called a triple bypass operation. If

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<v Speaker 1>four arteries are repaired, that's a quadruple bypass. The blood

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<v Speaker 1>vessel used to create the bypass is taken from the

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<v Speaker 1>chest or the leg. The body has several redundant vessels

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<v Speaker 1>that are removed without doing any harm. Do you have

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<v Speaker 1>any ideas or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please

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<v Speaker 1>send me an email at podcast at how stuff works

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