Medicine In Poetry: Ode To The Human Heart! Poem by Dr John Celes

O heart of blood within the human chest –
A little tube when formed at first in womb!
From fetal state, you seem to beat sans rest;
You freely work until man enters tomb.
A hundred times or more, you beat when born,
And slow down per minute with added age;
God formed you at ten weeks’ gestation, heart!
You beat with rhythm throughout night and morn;
And kept securely in a bony cage,
You work endlessly until men depart!

God only knows when you began to pump!
You send the blood to every organ fast;
And if you stop, they give the chest a thump!
If you do not restart, all turn aghast.
You push the blood in pulsatile a way;
All vital parts get blood in more amounts;
From aorta, you course in tubes so small;
Your syncytium muscle works night and day;
By ventricular force, the pressure mounts;
You are four-chambered mostly in men all!

Oxygenation takes place in both lungs;
Coronaries supply the heart’s muscle;
The rate increases when climbing up rungs;
Just haemoglobin fills red corpuscle;
Heart’s pacemaker is Sinus node in wall;
Electric impulse passes through a route,
In specialized conducting fibres spread;
Angina is the heart’s ischaemic call;
The pericardium’s protective a suit;
When heart stops pumping, man is pronounced dead!

Defects in heart occur at birth sometimes;
Some cause chest deformity like pigeons;
Dysrrhythmias may kill a babe at times;
Some faults can be repaired by heart-surgeons;
Some gross defects result in fetal death;
Rheumatic heart is common heart disease;
Supply of blood to heart can stop by clot;
Preventing heart disease is always worth;
Block in coronaries makes heart to cease;
A massive heart can’t reduced – one’s lot!

Preventing heart disease is important;
Good exercise and dieting are good;
Obesity makes man like elephant;
Avoid smoking and too much oily food!
Much stress in life can cause a heart attack;
An athlete’s heart is trained with lesser rate;
Pace-maker should be implanted in some;
The myxedema heart is always slack;
The condition of heart decides one’s fate;
A moderate alcohol is welcome!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 29-01-2013