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Cardiac muscle

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Cardiac muscle is a type of involuntary striated muscle found in the walls of the heart, specifically the myocardium. Cardiac muscle cells are known as cardiac myocytes (or cardiomyocytes). Cardiac muscle is one of three major types of muscle, the others being skeletal and smooth muscle. The cells that comprise cardiac muscle are sometimes seen as intermediate between these two other types in terms of appearance, structure, metabolism, excitation-coupling and mechanism of contraction. Cardiac muscle shares similarities with skeletal muscle with regard to its striated appearance and contraction, with both differing significantly from smooth muscle cells.

Coordinated contraction of cardiac muscle cells in the heart propel blood from the atria and ventricles to the blood vessels of the circulatory system. Cardiac muscle cells, like all tissues in the body, rely on an ample blood supply to deliver oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste products such as carbon dioxide. The coronary arteries fulfill this function.

For more information about Cardiac muscle, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with heart muscle

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Heart cells on lab chip display 'nanosense' that guides behavior

Heart cells on lab chip display 'nanosense' that guides behavior

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers, working with colleagues in Korea, have produced a laboratory chip with nanoscopic grooves and ridges capable of growing cardiac tissue that more closely resembles natural ...


From fruit fly wings to heart failure -- why Not(ch)?

From fruit fly wings to heart failure -- why Not(ch)?

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Almost a century after it was discovered in fruit flies with notches in their wings, the Notch signalling pathway may come to play an important role in the recovery from heart attacks. In a study published ...


New stem cell technology developed at Hebrew University

New stem cell technology leads to better treatment for complicated bone fractures

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A novel technology involving use of stem cells, developed by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers, has been applied to provide better and rapid healing for patients suffering from complicated bone fractures.


New genetic cause of cardiac failure discovered

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Over the course of a lifetime, the heart pumps some 250 million liters of blood through the body. In the order to do this, the muscle fibers of the heart have to be extremely durable. The research group headed by Dr. Wolfgang ...


Abnormal cholesterol levels may raise risk of heart failure

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Even if you never have a heart attack, abnormal blood cholesterol levels may significantly raise your risk of heart failure, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart As ...


Carvedilol shown to have unique characteristics among beta blockers

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

In a new study, researchers report that a class of heart medications called beta-blockers can have a helpful, or harmful, effect on the heart, depending on their molecular activity.


Drug for erectile dysfunction improves heart function in young heart-disease patients

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Heart function significantly improved in children and young adults with single-ventricle congenital heart disease who have had the Fontan operation following treatment with sildenafil, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction ...


Your own stem cells can treat heart disease

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

The largest national stem cell study for heart disease showed the first evidence that transplanting a potent form of adult stem cells into the heart muscle of subjects with severe angina results in less pain and an improved ...


Protein changes in heart strengthen link between Alzheimer's disease and chronic heart failure

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A team of U.S., Canadian and Italian scientists led by researchers at Johns Hopkins report evidence from studies in animals and humans supporting a link between Alzheimer's disease and chronic heart failure, two of the 10 ...


An often overlooked protein actually a potent regulator of cardiac hypertrophy

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A protein long thought to be a secondary regulator in the heart's response to stressors like hypertension actually appears to be a primary regulator according to researchers from the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas ...


Scientists grow mice heart muscle strip that beats

Scientists grow mice heart muscle strip that beats

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have grown a piece of heart muscle - and then watched it beat - by using stem cells from a mouse embryo, a big step toward one day repairing damage from heart attacks.


Afib triggered by a cell that resembles a pigment-producing skin cell

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 12, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The source and mechanisms underlying the abnormal heart beats that initiate atrial fibrillation (Afib), the most common type of abnormal heart beat, have not been well determined. However, a group of researchers at the University ...


New strategy for mending broken hearts?

New strategy for mending broken hearts?

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 11, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- By mimicking the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab, Duke University bioengineers believe they have taken an important first step toward growing a living "heart patch" ...


Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells

Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

University of Washington (UW) researchers have succeeded in engineering human tissue patches free of some problems that have stymied stem-cell repair for damaged hearts.


No major role for fish in the prevention of heart failure

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

'No major role for fish' in the prevention of heart failure; only a possible beneficial effect in those with diabetes