What if Your Heart Came With an Owner’s Manual?

If I were creating one, it would include practical instructions and advice.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons images

Your heart is a muscle that beats and pumps blood to your body on average 80 times a minute, 4,800 times every hour, and 115,200 times daily. If the average person lives 76 years, their heart performs its job over three billion times. The number will vary depending on how long you live and your average heart rate, but you now must appreciate this organ's incredible design.

If your heart came with an owner’s manual, you might be able to extend its, and therefore, your lifespan. However, there are no guarantees or warranties. But don’t worry—no matter your age, I have one to help guide you.

The Human Heart Owner’s Manual

Warnings:

• When in doubt, consult your doctor and don’t believe everything you read on the Internet about your heart.
• You only get one heart per lifetime. Yes, you might get a heart transplant if it is broken. But live your life without that assumption.
• There is such a thing as a broken heart, but it’s not what you hear about in Country music songs. Extreme emotional distress can cause it. It has a long Japanese name: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.