Cardiac Energetics

Assessment of cardiac energetics at the level of ATP-synthesis, chemomechanical energy transformation and whole organ dynamics as a function of haemodynamic load, ventricular configuration and oxygen- and substrates supply is basic to understanding cardiac function under physiological and pathophysiological (hypertrophy, hypoxia, ischaemia and heart failure) conditions. Moreover, cardiac energetics should be an important consideration in the choice and application of drugs especially in the case of vasodilators, inotropic agents and in cardioprotective measures. Only by considering energetics at the subcellular, cellular, and whole-heart level we can arrive at a better understanding of cardiac performance and ultimately better clinical judgement and drug therapy. Quantification of myocardial energetics will also help to determine the optimal time for surgical interventions such as valvular replacement or aneurysm resection. The present volume is the outcome of an international symposium on cardiac energetics held in Gargellen/Montafon (Austria), June 1986. The contributions will certainly help bridge the existing gap between basic research involving isolated structures and that involving the whole organ, on the one hand, and render the results derived from basic research applicable to clinical problems, on the other hand.

Most of the progress in cardiac energetics in recent years has been spurred by the pressure-volume area concept, the natural extension into energetics of earlier pioneering work delineating the time-varying elastance framework for ventricular contraction. The book draws together a broad spectrum of researchers - basic, applied and clinical - having a shared interest in the energetics of cardiac muscle and ventricle, providing an overview of the current state of the art.

The heart has a very high energy demand but very little energy reserves. In order to sustain contractile function, the heart has to continually produce a large amount of ATP. The heart utilizes free fatty acids mainly and carbohydrates to some extent as substrates for making energy and any change in this energy supply can seriously compromise cardiac function. It has emerged that alterations in cardiac energy metabolism are a major contributor to the development of a number of different forms of heart disease. It is also now known that optimizing energy metabolism in the heart is a viable and important approach to treating various forms of heart disease. Cardiac Energy Metabolism in Health and Disease describes the research advances that have been made in understanding what controls cardiac energy metabolism at molecular, transcriptional and physiological levels. It also describes how alterations in energy metabolism contribute to the development of heart dysfunction and how optimization of energy metabolism can be used to treat heart disease. The topics covered include a discussion of the effects of myocardial ischemia, diabetes, obesity, hypertrophy, heart failure, and genetic disorders of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism on cardiac energetics. The treatment of heart disease by optimizing energy metabolism is also discussed, which includes increasing overall energy production as well as increasing the efficiency of energy production and switching energy substrate preference of the heart. This book will be a valuable source of information to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and investigators in the field of experimental cardiology as well as biochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and other health professionals.

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The principal purpose of a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Advanced Research Workshop, a part of the NATO Advanced Study Institutes Programme, is to: (a) exchange thoughts at the frontiers of knowledge or at the frontiers of two (or more) fields or sectors; (b) review and assess the state of the art; (c) formulate recommendations for future research directions; (d) formulate plans for large international scientific experiments. The aim of the ARW on "Microvascular, rheological, metabolic and heat-transfer aspects of the heart: relation to ischaemia and thrombosis", convened in Chateau de Bonas, July 4-11, 1982, was to describe functions and performance of the heart in an interdisciplin ary effort, involving cardiologists, pathologists, biochemists, haemorheologists, physiologists, pharmacologists and bioengineers; to explore interactions between such subfields as blood rheology, micro circulation and ischaemia of the myocardium, heat transfer, heat work and performance as a pump, effect of -metabolites and ion transfer, mechanism of sudden death, protein synthesis and protein molecular transformations. One of the purposes of the Convenor was to relate clinical haemorheology to the heart energetics and heart metabolism. This was only partly established, as difficulties of communications between different fields, difficulties of semantics and of specialized out looks could not be overcome within a -few days. Nevertheless, a gate was opened for communications interchange in the future. There was even a problem within each specialty, and as is rather common, quite diverse views have been expressed. This, of course, is quite normal in the progress of science.

A fascinating synthesis of ancient wisdom, modern medicine, scientific research, and personal experiences that proves that the human heart, not the brain, holds the secrets that link body, mind, and spirit. You know that the heart loves and feels, but did you know that the heart also thinks, remembers, communicates with other hearts, helps regulate immunity, and contains stored information that continually pulses through your body? In The Heart's Code, Dr. Paul Pearsall explains the theory and science behind energy cardiology, the emerging field that is uncovering one of the most significant medical, social, and spiritual discoveries of our time: The heart is more than just a pump; it conducts the cellular symphony that is the very essence of our being. Full of amazing anecdotes and data, The Heart's Code presents the latest research on cellular memory and the power of the heart's energy and explores what these breakthroughs mean about how we should live our lives. By unlocking the heart's code we can discover new ways of understanding human healing and consciousness and create a new model for living that leads to better health, happiness, and self-knowledge.