Related topics: heart failure , heart attack , heart muscle , heart disease , stem cells



Heart

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The heart is a muscular organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods. The term cardiac (as in cardiology) means "related to the heart" and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for "heart."

The heart of a vertebrate is composed of cardiac muscle, an involuntary striated muscle tissue which is found only within this organ. The average human heart, beating at 72 beats per minute, will beat approximately 2.5 billion times during a lifetime (about 66 years). It weighs on average 250 g to 300 g in females and 300 g to 350 g in males.

For more information about Heart, 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

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Anti-inflammatory drugs interfere with aspirin's clotting ability

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

A new study conducted at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) reveals that Celebrex and other anti-inflammatory coxib medications may counter the positive effects of aspirin in preventing blood clots.


Researchers find new patterns in H1N1 deaths

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Brazilian researchers have performed the first-ever autopsy study to examine the precise causes of death in victims of the H1N1 swine flu.


Preventing heart attacks by targeting the immune system

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 23, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 300 people die of a heart attack each day and research has shown there is a peak in heart attacks on Christmas Day and New Year's Day due perhaps to rich meals, alcohol and stress.


Understanding relationship of proteins, fatty acids could help treat diseases

Understanding relationship of proteins, fatty acids could help treat diseases

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's widely understood that eating a diet high in saturated fats increases the risk for a long list of chronic and deadly diseases, including diabetes and coronary heart disease. Understanding ...


Heart transplant patients appear to have elevated risk for multiple skin cancers

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Many heart transplant patients develop multiple skin cancers, with increased risk for some skin cancers among patients with other cancers and with increasing age, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of ...


Good cholesterol not as protective in people with type 2 diabetes

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

High-density lipoprotein (HDL), known as "good" cholesterol, isn’t as protective for people with type 2 diabetes, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.


Study: Sticking with heart rehab boosts survival

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease who attended more cardiac rehabilitation sessions had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to die within four years than those who went to rehab less, researchers ...


Medical simulators can breathe, bleed, give birth -- and help students hone skills

Medicine & Health / Other

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

It was a high-stress situation for three nurses who had never delivered babies: A woman was 32 weeks pregnant, in pain and having contractions.


Disparity in use of implantable devices to prevent sudden death in heart failure patients

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A study of heart failure patients who meet national guidelines for devices that stabilize and strengthen the heart's electrical system found that only half of eligible patients received the devices. The study, which is the ...


Want to live well? Harvard experts offer pragmatic pointers on getting healthy and staying there

Want to live well? Harvard experts offer pragmatic pointers on getting healthy and staying there

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (12) | comments 3

You are what you eat. You're also how you feel, how you exercise, how you sleep, how you handle money, how you relate to people, and what you value.


Are patients losing sleep over blood pressure monitors?

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A widely used test for measuring nighttime blood pressure may interfere with patients' sleep, thus affecting the results of the test, reports a study in an upcoming issue of Clinical Journal of the American Society of Ne ...


New gene linked to congenital heart defects

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the UC San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have identified a new gene, ETS-1, that is linked to human congenital heart defects. The landmark study, recently published online in the ...


Breathlessness eased in patients with rare, often fatal disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Patients with a rare, deadly disease that mostly affects young women felt a dramatic reduction in breathlessness using an approved drug, according to study results published online today in The Journal of Heart and Lung Tr ...


Heart drugs show promise for fighting colon cancer

Heart drugs show promise for fighting colon cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists in Sweden are reporting for the first time that a group of drugs used to treat heart failure shows promise for fighting colon cancer. The study is in ACS' Journal of Natural Products. Colon cancer ...


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 ...