Hi, I know that technically the heart is in the middle but it feels it's on the left hand side cos it pumps harder there. However i heard that in some cases the heart can shift a little to the right hand side. Is that true ?
2007-03-13 10:21:23 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Having your heart on the right side of your body is called dextrocardia. There is a disorder called situs inversus where these people have their heart on the right side. These people have all their internal organs reversed and they also tend to be sterile (cannot reproduce).
2007-03-13 10:36:51 · answer #1 · answered by misoma5 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The heart is generally located just off to the left in the chest cavity, but there are a couple of different things that can lead to the heart not being in the normal location. As the previous person to answer noted, situs inversus is the complete left-right reversal of all the body's organs. It is relatively rare and it's unclear what causes it.
The heart itself can shift more over to the right due to abnormalities like tumors or other conditions that cause the heart itself to expand. Anything like this disrupts the 'normal' placement of organs and forces them to shift slightly in order to accomodate the changes. Trauma might also cause a shift due to displacement (blood in the chest cavity or pericardium, for example).
2007-03-13 11:34:35 · answer #2 · answered by Melissa 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2007-03-13 14:57:22 · answer #3 · answered by xxx 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋