9 Facts about the Human Heart

ORLANDO, Fla. — February is American Heart Month. Advocates want to raise awareness about heart health and what you can do to keep your ticker ticking.

1. The human heart is about the size of its owner's clenched fist and is made up of cardiac muscle.

2. Humans, mammals and birds all have four-chambered hearts.

3. According to

, more people have heart attacks on Christmas Day than any other day of the year. December 26 and New Year's follows. %

%

4. The human heart beats an average of 100,000 times a day. That adds up to more than 3,000,000,000 heart beats over the course of an average lifetime.

5. The heart will pump 1 million barrels of blood over a lifetime.

6. Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of people around the globe, according to the

. %

%

7. Healthy hearts make two distinct sounds: lub and dub. They are produced when the atrioventricular and semilunar valves close.

8. An adult human heart weighs between 9 and 12 ounces on average. The average horse heart weighs about 8 pounds.

9. The heart wall is made up of three different layers: the epicardium, myocardium and endocardium.

Join WFTV News Anchors Greg Warmoth & Jorge Estevez on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6:45 p.m. for a special Facebook Live event with heart health experts from AdventHealth Orlando. Like us on Facebook to ask the doctors your questions.

Cox Media Group