NEET MDS Lessons
Physiology
Heart Failure : Heart failure is inability of the heart to pump the enough amount of blood needed to sustain the needs of organism .
It is usually called congestive heart failure ( CHF) .
To understand the pathophysiology of the heart failure , lets compare it with the physiology of the cardiac output :
Cardiac output =Heart rate X stroke volume
Stroke volume is determined by three determinants : Preload ( venous return ) , contractility , and afterload (peripheral resistance ) . Any disorder of these factors will reduce the ability of the heart to pump blood .
Preload : Any factor that decrease the venous return , either by decreasing the intravenous pressure or increasing the intraatrial pressure will lead to heart failure .
Contractility : Reducing the power of contraction such as in myocarditis , cardiomyopathy , preicardial tamponade ..etc , will lead to heart failure .
Afterload : Any factor that may increase the peripheral resistance such as hypertension , valvular diseases of the heart may cause heart failure.
Pathophysiology : When the heart needs to contract more to meet the increased demand , compensatory mechanisms start to develope to enhance the power of contractility . One of these mechanism is increasing heart rate , which will worsen the situation because this will increase the demands of the myocardial cells themselves . The other one is hypertrophy of the cardiac muscle which may compensate the failure temporarily but then the hypertrophy will be an additional load as the fibers became stiff .
The stroke volume will be reduced , the intraventricular pressure will increase and consequently the intraatrial pressure and then the venous pressure . This will lead to decrease reabsorption of water from the interstitium ( see microcirculation) and then leads to developing of edema ( Pulmonary edema if the failure is left , and systemic edema if the failure is right) .
The Nerve Impulse
When a nerve is stimulated the resting potential changes. Examples of such stimuli are pressure, electricity, chemicals, etc. Different neurons are sensitive to different stimuli(although most can register pain). The stimulus causes sodium ion channels to open. The rapid change in polarity that moves along the nerve fiber is called the "action potential." In order for an action potential to occur, it must reach threshold. If threshold does not occur, then no action potential can occur. This moving change in polarity has several stages:
Depolarization
The upswing is caused when positively charged sodium ions (Na+) suddenly rush through open sodium gates into a nerve cell. The membrane potential of the stimulated cell undergoes a localized change from -55 millivolts to 0 in a limited area. As additional sodium rushes in, the membrane potential actually reverses its polarity so that the outside of the membrane is negative relative to the inside. During this change of polarity the membrane actually develops a positive value for a moment(+30 millivolts). The change in voltage stimulates the opening of additional sodium channels (called a voltage-gated ion channel). This is an example of a positive feedback loop.
Repolarization
The downswing is caused by the closing of sodium ion channels and the opening of potassium ion channels. Release of positively charged potassium ions (K+) from the nerve cell when potassium gates open. Again, these are opened in response to the positive voltage--they are voltage gated. This expulsion acts to restore the localized negative membrane potential of the cell (about -65 or -70 mV is typical for nerves).
Hyperpolarization
When the potassium ions are below resting potential (-90 mV). Since the cell is hyper polarized, it goes to a refractory phrase.
Refractory phase
The refractory period is a short period of time after the depolarization stage. Shortly after the sodium gates open, they close and go into an inactive conformation. The sodium gates cannot be opened again until the membrane is repolarized to its normal resting potential. The sodium-potassium pump returns sodium ions to the outside and potassium ions to the inside. During the refractory phase this particular area of the nerve cell membrane cannot be depolarized. This refractory area explains why action potentials can only move forward from the point of stimulation.
Factors that affect sensitivity and speed
Sensitivity
Increased permeability of the sodium channel occurs when there is a deficit of calcium ions. When there is a deficit of calcium ions (Ca+2) in the interstitial fluid, the sodium channels are activated (opened) by very little increase of the membrane potential above the normal resting level. The nerve fiber can therefore fire off action potentials spontaneously, resulting in tetany. This could be caused by the lack of hormone from parathyroid glands. It could also be caused by hyperventilation, which leads to a higher pH, which causes calcium to bind and become unavailable.
Speed of Conduction
This area of depolarization/repolarization/recovery moves along a nerve fiber like a very fast wave. In myelinated fibers, conduction is hundreds of times faster because the action potential only occurs at the nodes of Ranvier (pictured below in 'types of neurons') by jumping from node to node. This is called "saltatory" conduction. Damage to the myelin sheath by the disease can cause severe impairment of nerve cell function. Some poisons and drugs interfere with nerve impulses by blocking sodium channels in nerves. See discussion on drug at the end of this outline.
Respiration occurs in three steps :
1- Mechanical ventilation : inhaling and exhaling of air between lungs and atmosphere.
2- Gas exchange : between pulmonary alveoli and pulmonary capillaries.
3- Transport of gases from the lung to the peripheral tissues , and from the peripheral tissues back to blood .
These steps are well regulated by neural and chemical regulation.
Respiratory tract is subdivided into upper and lower respiratory tract. The upper respiratory tract involves , nose , oropharynx and nasopharynx , while the lower respiratory tract involves larynx , trachea , bronchi ,and lungs .
Nose fulfills three important functions which are :
1. warming of inhaled air .
b. filtration of air .
c. humidification of air .
Pharynx is a muscular tube , which forms a passageway for air and food .During swallowing the epiglottis closes the larynx and the bolus of food falls in the esophagus .
Larynx is a respiratory organ that connects pharynx with trachea . It is composed of many cartilages and muscles and
vocal cords . Its role in respiration is limited to being a conductive passageway for air .
Trachea is a tube composed of C shaped cartilage rings from anterior side, and of muscle (trachealis muscle ) from its posterior side.The rings prevent trachea from collapsing during the inspiration.
From the trachea the bronchi are branched into right and left bronchus ( primary bronchi) , which enter the lung .Then they repeatedly branch into secondary and tertiary bronchi and then into terminal and respiratory broncholes.There are about 23 branching levels from the right and left bronchi to the respiratory bronchioles , the first upper 17 branching are considered as a part of the conductive zones , while the lower 6 are considered to be respiratory zone.
The cartilaginous component decreases gradually from the trachea to the bronchioles . Bronchioles are totally composed of smooth muscles ( no cartilage) . With each branching the diameter of bronchi get smaller , the smallest diameter of respiratory passageways is that of respiratory bronchiole.
Lungs are evolved by pleura . Pleura is composed of two layers : visceral and parietal .
Between the two layers of pleura , there is a pleural cavity , filled with a fluid that decrease the friction between the visceral and parietal pleura.
Respiratory muscles : There are two group of respiratory muscles:
1. Inspiratory muscles : diaphragm and external intercostal muscle ( contract during quiet breathing ) , and accessory inspiratory muscles : scaleni , sternocleidomastoid , internal pectoral muscle , and others( contract during forceful inspiration).
2. Expiratory muscles : internal intercostal muscles , and abdominal muscles ( contract during forceful expiration)
Hyperventilation
- Treatments :Rebreath air, hold breath (Increase CO2)
Give oxygen for Hypoxemia
The Types of muscle cells. There are three types, red, white, and intermediate.
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White Fibers Fast twitch Large diameter, used for speed and strength. Depends on the phosphagen system and on glycolysis-lactic acid. Stores glycogen for conversion to glucose. Fewer blood vessels. Little or no myoglobin. |
Red Fibers Slow twitch Small diameter, used for endurance. Depends on aerobic metabolism. Utilize fats as well as glucose. Little glycogen storage. Many blood vessels and much myoglobin give this muscle its reddish appearance. |
Intermediate Fibers: sometimes called "fast twitch red", these fibers have faster action but rely more on aerobic metabolism and have more endurance. Most muscles are mixtures of the different types. Muscle fiber types and their relative abundance cannot be varied by training, although there is some evidence that prior to maturation of the muscular system the emphasis on certain activities can influence their development
The Cardiac Cycle: the sequence of events in one heartbeat.
systole - the contraction phase; unless otherwise specified refers to left ventricle, but each chamber has its own systole.
diastole - the relaxation phase; unless otherwise specified refers to left ventricle, but each chamber has its own diastole.
1) quiescent period - period when all chambers are at rest and filling. 70% of ventricular filling occurs during this period. The AV valves are open, the semilunar valves are closed.
2) atrial systole - pushes the last 30% of blood into the ventricle.
3) atrial diastole - atria begin filling.
4) ventricular systole - First the AV valves close causing the first heart sound, then after the isovolumetric contraction phase the semilunar valves open permitting ventricular ejection of blood into the arteries.
5) ventricular diastole - As the ventricles relax the semilunar valves close first producing the second heart sound, then after the isovolumetric relaxation phase the AV valves open allowing ventricular filling.
Characteristics of Facilitated Diffusion & Active Transport - both require the use of carriers that are specific to particular substances (that is, each type of carrier can 'carry' one type of substance) and both can exhibit saturation (movement across a membrane is limited by number of carriers & the speed with which they move materials