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know the muscles are there in a human body
yes our body gets its shape from the skeleton that supports it. The bones give the body strength and the muscles which are around the bones is what gives definition to the body, help in movement and store energy. The various muscles which are intertwined with tendons and nerves make the movement possible for the body.
Different organs and parts need various types of muscles and depending upon the nature of requirement, striated or non striated or voluntary or involuntary type of muscles are present there. Since our whole body is a mass of muscles, their volume is indeed huge.
There are more than 639 skeletal muscles in your body. Some sources will say 640 muscles in the human body. On average, your body weight is 40% muscle. Out of the 639/640 muscles, 30 of them are facial muscles, which help you create all those different faces of happiness, surprise, joy, sorrow, sadness, fright, etc. The muscles surrounding your eye are the busiest muscles in your body. Research indicates that you probably blink them more than 100,000 times a day
muscle is to move your body :
Without muscles you couldn't move your skeleton. There would be no way to animate your physical body or even speak your mind. You wouldn't be able to blink, digest your food, breathe, pump your heart or have one for that matter since your heart is a muscle. You couldn't smile, urinate, defecate or sniff with your nose.
Muscles are a type of tissue that is composed of contractile cells or fibers :
The cells or fibers actually contract! And when they contract, they create movement on the bone that they attached to. The really cool thing about muscles tissue is its ability to shorten (contract). Muscle tissue also has the property of irritability, conductivity and elasticity.
Remember, there are three different types of muscle tissue :
Smooth muscle:
This muscle tissue is called involuntary because it is NOT under conscious control. Involuntary means you do not have to think about it. Involuntary muscle tissue is found in the internal organs; namely the digestive tract, respiratory passages, urinary and genital ducts, urinary bladder, gallbladder, walls of the blood vessels. Yep! Your blood vessel walls are also muscle tissue.
Another great reason to exercise and pump the blood.
Striated muscle :
This muscle tissue is found in all skeletal muscles, and movement is under conscious control. It also occurs in the tongue, pharynx, and upper portion of the esoophagus. Voluntary muscles are under conscious control because you would consciously tell them what to do. If you say, "arm, move" it moves!
Cardiac muscle :
This muscle tissue is only found in the heart. The fibers branch and form a continuous network. At certain intervals, there are prominent bands or intercalated disks that cross the fibers. Some fibers are called Purkinje fibers, and they form the impulse-conducting system of the heart.
Muscles work by contracting and relaxing :
Pump your bicep for a second. Make a fist and bring it up to your ear. Notice how your bicep gets bigger when the muscle tightens and shortens. And when you relax your arm, the muscle gets longer and smaller. Muscles do not push, they pull. The tiny muscle fibers work like a sliding glass door on a track. And these tiny muscle fibers get their energy from the food you eat. Without food to feed the muscles, your muscles couldn't make the energy to contract. The reason you can move your arm back and forth is because muscles work in pairs. One is a synergist, the other a antagonist. It's a support thing and so they can pull in opposing directions.
Have you ever heard the term "Move it or Lose it!" This term can be directly applied to a sarcomere.
A sarcomere is portion of a striated muscle fibril. Tiny pieces of your muscle. If you don't move and exercise those muscles by contracting and relaxing them, you will in fact lose 100 sarcomere's a day. YIKES!
In order for a muscle to work, it has to cross a joint. Connecting from one end of a bone to the other without crossing the joint would be pretty much useless because it wouldn't be able to shorten or lengthen with the movement of the joint. So in order to bend your knee, the muscles in your thigh have to cross over to the other side of the knee joint and attach. Then when you tighten the muscle, the knee bends. Cool huh?
The muscles that are voluntary get their signals from the peripheral nervous system, and it's because of this that the skeletal muscles are under conscious or voluntary control. The involuntary muscles (smooth and cardiac muscles) receive their nerve supply from the central nervous system and functions involuntarily without conscious control.
It is possible to hurt a muscle because they can become pulled, hence "pulled muscle." You can actually tear a muscle the same way that a ligament or tendon gets torn or a bone gets broke. And the cool thing is, they can heal themselves with rest and time.
Tag :
General Health,
People at a stroke
A stroke is serious - just like a heart attack. A stroke is sometimes called a "brain attack." Most often, stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain stops because it is blocked by a clot. The brain cells in the immediate area begin to die because they stop getting the oxygen and nutrients they need to function.
What causes a stroke?
There are two kinds of stroke. The most common kind of stroke, called ischemic stroke, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain. The other kind of stroke, called hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain.
Anyone can have a stroke, but there are some things that increase your risk
What should you do?
Because stroke injures the brain, you may not realize that you are having a stroke. The people around you might not know it either. Your family, friends, or neighbors may think you are confused. You may not be able to call on your own. That's why everyone should know the signs of stroke - and know how to act fast.
Don't wait for the symptoms to improve or worsen. If you believe you are having a stroke - or someone you know is having a stroke - call immediately. Making the decision to call for medical help can make the difference in avoiding a lifelong disability.
Streetsign image with text: Trouble Walking
What causes a stroke?
There are two kinds of stroke. The most common kind of stroke, called ischemic stroke, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain. The other kind of stroke, called hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain.
Anyone can have a stroke, but there are some things that increase your risk
Your age
The largest number of people who have strokes are aged over 55, and the risk increases as you get older. This is because our arteries naturally become narrower and harder as we get older.
Your ethnicity
If you are South Asian, black African or black Caribbean you are at a higher risk of stroke than other people in the UK. It isn’t completely understood why this is, but it’s probably connected to the fact that you are more likely to have conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.
Family history
If a close relative (parent, grandparent, brother or sister) has had a stroke, your risk is likely to be higher.
Genetic conditions
Certain genetic conditions can cause strokes. Sickle cell disease, for example, is a genetic disorder that affects your red blood cells and makes them more likely to block your blood vessels.
None of these factors mean that you will necessarily have a stroke, but it’s important to be aware of them and do what you can about the factors you can change.What should you do?
Because stroke injures the brain, you may not realize that you are having a stroke. The people around you might not know it either. Your family, friends, or neighbors may think you are confused. You may not be able to call on your own. That's why everyone should know the signs of stroke - and know how to act fast.
Don't wait for the symptoms to improve or worsen. If you believe you are having a stroke - or someone you know is having a stroke - call immediately. Making the decision to call for medical help can make the difference in avoiding a lifelong disability.
Streetsign image with text: Trouble Walking
Tag :
General Health,
The negative effect of cholesterol on the heart
Cholesterol is a fatty substance carried around the body by proteins. When cholesterol and proteins are combined, they are called lipoproteins. There are two
main types of lipoproteins:
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known as the bad type of cholesterol. LDL carry cholesterol from your liver to the cells that need it.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the good type of cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down.
Too much bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood can cause fatty material to build up in your artery walls. The risk is particularly high if you have a high level of bad cholesterol and a low level of good cholesterol.
If you need to have your cholesterol measured, it will be in units called millimols per litre of blood (mmol/l). You should aim to have a total cholesterol level under 4mmol/l especially if you are at risk of, or already have, heart and circulatory disease. You should also aim to have your LDL under 2 mmol/l and your HDL above 1 mmol/l.
- High cholesterol can create a bile imbalance, leading to gallstones. According to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse, more than 80 percent of gallstones are cholesterol stones.
A buildup of plaque in your arteries can also block blood flow to your kidneys and stomach. Intestinal ischemic syndrome is when there’s a blockage in arteries leading to the intestines or bowel. Symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and bloody stools.
- causes high cholesterol
There is no one single cause for high cholesterol. Many different factors can contribute to high cholesterol such as:
eating a diet that is high in saturated fat
smoking
lack of physical activity
high alcohol intake, or
kidney or liver disease.
Having an inherited condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) can also cause exceptionally high cholesterol even if you have a healthy lifestyle.
"If you want to see what it looks like in a solidified form, go get yourself a can of Crisco at the grocery store," says Gregory Dehmer, MD, director of the division of cardiology at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. "If you open up a can of Crisco, its this white, lard-like substance."
main types of lipoproteins:
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) is known as the bad type of cholesterol. LDL carry cholesterol from your liver to the cells that need it.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is known as the good type of cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down.
Too much bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood can cause fatty material to build up in your artery walls. The risk is particularly high if you have a high level of bad cholesterol and a low level of good cholesterol.
If you need to have your cholesterol measured, it will be in units called millimols per litre of blood (mmol/l). You should aim to have a total cholesterol level under 4mmol/l especially if you are at risk of, or already have, heart and circulatory disease. You should also aim to have your LDL under 2 mmol/l and your HDL above 1 mmol/l.
- High cholesterol can create a bile imbalance, leading to gallstones. According to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse, more than 80 percent of gallstones are cholesterol stones.
A buildup of plaque in your arteries can also block blood flow to your kidneys and stomach. Intestinal ischemic syndrome is when there’s a blockage in arteries leading to the intestines or bowel. Symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and bloody stools.
- causes high cholesterol
There is no one single cause for high cholesterol. Many different factors can contribute to high cholesterol such as:
eating a diet that is high in saturated fat
smoking
lack of physical activity
high alcohol intake, or
kidney or liver disease.
Having an inherited condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) can also cause exceptionally high cholesterol even if you have a healthy lifestyle.
"If you want to see what it looks like in a solidified form, go get yourself a can of Crisco at the grocery store," says Gregory Dehmer, MD, director of the division of cardiology at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. "If you open up a can of Crisco, its this white, lard-like substance."
His Heart Almost Stopped
How cholesterol can clog arteries
Not all cholesterol is created equal. It's a fatty substance, so cholesterol can't dissolve in the blood to be carried to where it's needed in the body. "Your body is mostly water, and fat and water don't mix," says Dr. Dehmer.
So cholesterol is packaged into proteins that can shuttle the fatty stuff around your body. One is high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or good cholesterol) and another is low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol).
What's the difference? LDL can stick to the smooth lining of the blood vessels, where it is absorbed. HDL appears to do the opposite—it actually mops up excess cholesterol and removes it from the blood vessels.
The amount and type of cholesterol in your blood are determined by genetics, age, diet, and exercise. When you eat a diet that's rich in saturated and trans fats, or dietary cholesterol (which is found in animal products such as eggs, milk, and meat), LDL cholesterol levels go up.
"The problem is that many individuals—and probably including myself—eat a diet that is very excessive in all the wrong kind of fats, of which we are talking about animal fats and dairy fats, and therefore we get our cholesterol up too high," says Dr. Dehmer.
But when you exercise, HDL cholesterol goes up—and that's a good thing. "The bottom line is that there are some people out there who have fairly high levels of HDL cholesterol," says Stephen Nicholls, MBBS, PhD, a research cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. "That may drive their total cholesterol to look higher than it actually is in terms of how bad that level is."
How cholesterol affects the heart
If LDL cholesterol is too high, some is absorbed into the artery walls, where it acts like an irritant that triggers inflammation in the body. White blood cells crawl into the artery wall and start "gobbling up fatty particles" in a fruitless effort to heal the damage, says Dr. Dehmer.
The end result is big, fatty deposits in the blood vessels. This causes the vessels to become stiff, narrow, and less responsive to triggers to expand and constrict, a process that ensures a steady flow of life-giving oxygen to the body's tissues. (While you may think of blood vessels as akin to the plumbing in your house, they're more dynamic; they constantly adapt to meet the body's needs.)
open quoteIf you want to see what cholesterol looks like, go get yourself a can of Crisco at the grocery store.close quote
This process can happen all over your body. If the fatty buildup is in the blood vessels in the legs (a condition known as peripheral arterial disease), you may experience cramping and have difficulty walking; if it's in the penis, you can develop erectile dysfunction; and if it's in the neck arteries, it can cut off the blood supply to the brain and cause a stroke.
The biggest danger, however, is to the heart. The arteries that cover the surface of the heart are particularly prone to clogging. Once fatty plaques clog these blood vessels, blood flow to the heart tissue is reduced. This can cause chest pain, or angina.
If plaque ruptures, a clot can form and cause a heart attack—a dramatic decline in the blood supply that causes heart tissue to die. (To find out if youre at risk for having a heart attack, take this test.)
What you can do about bad cholesterol
The artery-clogging process can start early in life. A 2008 autopsy study of adults ages 16 to 64 who died of non-heart-disease-related causes found that 83% had signs of heart disease and 8% had advanced disease. "We're seeing evidence of abnormality of blood vessels and obvious plaque in teenagers," says Dr. Nicholls.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to help prevent this process. "We know that lowering LDL cholesterol, the bad form, is clearly a good thing," says Dr. Nicholls. "The other thing we would highlight is the emerging role of HDL, or good cholesterol, the other player here."
Diet and exercise are critical for lowering LDL and raising HDL, notes Dr. Nicholls. (Click here for specific lifestyle changes that can lower heart disease risk.)
Cholesterol-lowering medication can also help, but you still need to watch your diet and exercise. "You can't just say, 'I'm being treated, so I can therefore not exercise and eat whatever I want,'" says Dr. Nicholls. "It doesn't work that way."
How can I reduce my cholesterol level?
Eat a healthy balanced diet
Eating lots of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain is better than eating foods high in saturated or trans fats. You can replace saturated fats with the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as olive, rapeseed or sunflower oils and spreads.
Choose foods that are high in soluble fibre such as oats, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Soluble fibre can help lower cholesterol.
Do regular exercise
Regular physical activity can help increase your HDL cholesterol (the good type of cholesterol). Staying active is great way to keep your heart healthy.
Quit smoking
Quitting smoking can help to lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health.
Will I need to take medication?
Whether or not you need to take cholesterol-lowering medicine depends on your overall risk of cardiovascular disease.
Cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins are prescribed for people who are at greatest overall risk of cardiovascular disease. If you have questions about your medicines, speak with your doctor or call our Heart Helpline on 0300 330 3311. You can also look at our publications for more information.
Will eating sterol-enriched foods help reduce my cholesterol level?
Although the effect varies between individuals, there is evidence to show that plant sterols and stanols can help to reduce LDL cholesterol by levels up to 10-15% when 2g per day is regularly consumed as part of a healthy balanced diet.
But whilst there is an expectation that this would lead to fewer heart attacks, no clinical trials have been undertaken to show this. Sterols and stanols have been added to certain foods, including margarines, spreads, soft cheeses and yoghurts.
Will eating too many eggs raise my cholesterol?
For most people, the amount of saturated fat they eat has much more of an impact on their cholesterol than eating foods that contain cholesterol, like eggs, liver, kidneys and shellfish. Unless you have been told otherwise by your doctor or dietician, if you like eggs, they can be included as part of a balanced and varied diet
How cholesterol can clog arteries
Not all cholesterol is created equal. It's a fatty substance, so cholesterol can't dissolve in the blood to be carried to where it's needed in the body. "Your body is mostly water, and fat and water don't mix," says Dr. Dehmer.
So cholesterol is packaged into proteins that can shuttle the fatty stuff around your body. One is high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or good cholesterol) and another is low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol).
What's the difference? LDL can stick to the smooth lining of the blood vessels, where it is absorbed. HDL appears to do the opposite—it actually mops up excess cholesterol and removes it from the blood vessels.
The amount and type of cholesterol in your blood are determined by genetics, age, diet, and exercise. When you eat a diet that's rich in saturated and trans fats, or dietary cholesterol (which is found in animal products such as eggs, milk, and meat), LDL cholesterol levels go up.
"The problem is that many individuals—and probably including myself—eat a diet that is very excessive in all the wrong kind of fats, of which we are talking about animal fats and dairy fats, and therefore we get our cholesterol up too high," says Dr. Dehmer.
But when you exercise, HDL cholesterol goes up—and that's a good thing. "The bottom line is that there are some people out there who have fairly high levels of HDL cholesterol," says Stephen Nicholls, MBBS, PhD, a research cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. "That may drive their total cholesterol to look higher than it actually is in terms of how bad that level is."
How cholesterol affects the heart
If LDL cholesterol is too high, some is absorbed into the artery walls, where it acts like an irritant that triggers inflammation in the body. White blood cells crawl into the artery wall and start "gobbling up fatty particles" in a fruitless effort to heal the damage, says Dr. Dehmer.
The end result is big, fatty deposits in the blood vessels. This causes the vessels to become stiff, narrow, and less responsive to triggers to expand and constrict, a process that ensures a steady flow of life-giving oxygen to the body's tissues. (While you may think of blood vessels as akin to the plumbing in your house, they're more dynamic; they constantly adapt to meet the body's needs.)
open quoteIf you want to see what cholesterol looks like, go get yourself a can of Crisco at the grocery store.close quote
This process can happen all over your body. If the fatty buildup is in the blood vessels in the legs (a condition known as peripheral arterial disease), you may experience cramping and have difficulty walking; if it's in the penis, you can develop erectile dysfunction; and if it's in the neck arteries, it can cut off the blood supply to the brain and cause a stroke.
The biggest danger, however, is to the heart. The arteries that cover the surface of the heart are particularly prone to clogging. Once fatty plaques clog these blood vessels, blood flow to the heart tissue is reduced. This can cause chest pain, or angina.
If plaque ruptures, a clot can form and cause a heart attack—a dramatic decline in the blood supply that causes heart tissue to die. (To find out if youre at risk for having a heart attack, take this test.)
What you can do about bad cholesterol
The artery-clogging process can start early in life. A 2008 autopsy study of adults ages 16 to 64 who died of non-heart-disease-related causes found that 83% had signs of heart disease and 8% had advanced disease. "We're seeing evidence of abnormality of blood vessels and obvious plaque in teenagers," says Dr. Nicholls.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to help prevent this process. "We know that lowering LDL cholesterol, the bad form, is clearly a good thing," says Dr. Nicholls. "The other thing we would highlight is the emerging role of HDL, or good cholesterol, the other player here."
Diet and exercise are critical for lowering LDL and raising HDL, notes Dr. Nicholls. (Click here for specific lifestyle changes that can lower heart disease risk.)
Cholesterol-lowering medication can also help, but you still need to watch your diet and exercise. "You can't just say, 'I'm being treated, so I can therefore not exercise and eat whatever I want,'" says Dr. Nicholls. "It doesn't work that way."
How can I reduce my cholesterol level?
Eat a healthy balanced diet
Eating lots of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain is better than eating foods high in saturated or trans fats. You can replace saturated fats with the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as olive, rapeseed or sunflower oils and spreads.
Choose foods that are high in soluble fibre such as oats, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Soluble fibre can help lower cholesterol.
Do regular exercise
Regular physical activity can help increase your HDL cholesterol (the good type of cholesterol). Staying active is great way to keep your heart healthy.
Quit smoking
Quitting smoking can help to lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health.
Will I need to take medication?
Whether or not you need to take cholesterol-lowering medicine depends on your overall risk of cardiovascular disease.
Cholesterol-lowering medicines such as statins are prescribed for people who are at greatest overall risk of cardiovascular disease. If you have questions about your medicines, speak with your doctor or call our Heart Helpline on 0300 330 3311. You can also look at our publications for more information.
Will eating sterol-enriched foods help reduce my cholesterol level?
Although the effect varies between individuals, there is evidence to show that plant sterols and stanols can help to reduce LDL cholesterol by levels up to 10-15% when 2g per day is regularly consumed as part of a healthy balanced diet.
But whilst there is an expectation that this would lead to fewer heart attacks, no clinical trials have been undertaken to show this. Sterols and stanols have been added to certain foods, including margarines, spreads, soft cheeses and yoghurts.
Will eating too many eggs raise my cholesterol?
For most people, the amount of saturated fat they eat has much more of an impact on their cholesterol than eating foods that contain cholesterol, like eggs, liver, kidneys and shellfish. Unless you have been told otherwise by your doctor or dietician, if you like eggs, they can be included as part of a balanced and varied diet
Tag :
General Health,