There are three types of muscles in the body. Each of them are found in specific areas and serve important roles in the proper functioning of many parts of your body. Skeletal muscle, which is almost entirely under your direct control, is known as striated muscle. The muscles that make up the heart are very specialized and are known as cardiac muscle. Lastly, many of your internal organs and arteries use a type of muscle known as smooth muscle to control their functions.

STRIATED

Striated muscle is the type you are likely most familiar with. It is the type of muscle tissue which makes up the muscles attached to your bones. You have direct control over the contraction and relaxation striated muscle. To demonstrate this, you simply need to move any part of your body such as a hand, finger, elbow, knee, or leg. Striated muscle is given its name because when it is examined under a microscope, it contains numerous lines throughout the tissue known as striations.

Skeletal muscle is attached to bones by tendons. There are two major categories of striated muscle, fast twitch and slow twitch. Fast twitch muscles are responsible for quick bursts of power, but fatigue quickly. On the other hand, slow twitch muscles do not provide as much instantaneous power, but are able to contract for long periods of time without fatiguing. Sprinters will rely more heavily on fast twitch muscles while marathon runners will rely on their slow twitch muscles.

SMOOTH

Smooth muscle is found in various internal organs throughout your body. This type of muscle is not able to be controlled voluntarily. For example, it is found in the internal lining of the major arteries of your circulatory system. Have you ever tried to flex your aorta? Well, you can’t. And that’s because the muscular layer surrounding the aorta is made up of smooth muscle.

Smooth muscle is also found in the reproductive organs, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and in certain parts of the eye. The term smooth muscle is a descriptive term given to this type of muscle as it does not contain the same types of stripes seen in striated and cardiac muscle. These stripes are only visible when a piece of muscle tissue is looked at under a microscope. Smooth muscle cells contain only one centrally located nucleus.

CARDIAC

Cardiac muscle is specifically designed to function in the heart. In fact, given its name, it is understandable that it is only found in heart tissue. Cardiac muscle has several properties which distinguish it from striated and smooth muscle. It must be able to contract on arrhythmic basis continually without stopping throughout your lifetime. As such, it does not fatigue in the same way that striated and even smooth muscle does. There are specific cells on the heart which function to initiate the heart beat. Cardiac muscle is the only type of muscle that can initiate a contraction by itself.

Cardiac muscle is under involuntary control by your brain and those specialized cardiac cells. You cannot control your heart rate consciously. Of course doing things such as exercising can increase your heart rate, but that is merely a reaction of your body to be activity.

Different types of muscle tissue

Muscle are highly specialized cells, which convert chemical energy to mechanical energy. Specifically, muscle cells use the energy in the form of ATP to generate force or do work. Work exists in different forms like locomotion, pumping of blood or movement of food through the digestive tract. In order to bring about the different set of work in to action human body contains three different types of muscle tissue, they are the

1. Skeletal muscle

2. Smooth muscle

3. Cardiac muscle.

Skeletal muscle, as the name implies are attached to the skeletal system or the bones of the body. They are primary involved in keeping the bones in place and gives structure to the body. They play a key role in numerous activities such as maintenance of posture, locomotion, speech, and respiration. The skeletal muscle is under our voluntary control or under the control of the human brain. After working for long periods, these muscles under go fatigue. This is a temporary phenomenon. Fatigue sets in due to decrease in oxygen, nutrient supply to the working muscles as well due to the deposition of metabolic waste product such as lactic acid.

Skeletal muscle is classified as:

a) Fast-twitch muscle, also called type IIA and type IIB. Lateral rectus muscle of the eye, which contracts very quickly is an example for this type of muscle.

b) Slow-twitch muscle, also called type I. The soleus muscle is an example for this type of muscle.

Cardiac muscle cells are much smaller than skeletal muscle cells. Cardiac muscles are specialized muscles that form the heart. They are involuntary muscles. Heart is the organ that pumps blood through our body. These specialized muscles are capable of pumping blood non-stop with out getting fatigue. The cells of the heart or the cardiac muscles are connected together to form a network. This enables the cardiac muscle to act as a single unit while contracting and thus aids in pumping the blood effectively.

Smooth muscles are a major component of hollow organs such as the alimentary canal, airways, vasculature, and urogenital tract. Contraction of smooth muscle serves to alter the proportion of the organ, which may result in either propelling the contents of the organ or increasing the resistance to flow. Smooth muscle can contract in response to either electrical or hormonal signals and exhibits the ability to remain contracted for extended periods at low levels of energy consumption.

Smooth muscle is classified as phasic smooth muscle and tonic smooth muscle. Smooth muscle exhibiting rhythmic or intermittent activity is termed phasic smooth muscle. Muscles in the walls of the gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts are examples for this. On the other hand, smooth muscles that are continuously active are termed as tonic smooth muscle. Muscles that line the blood vessels as well as the respiratory tract belong to this group.

Not all chest pain is caused by damage to the heart. Although most people who have chest pain are likely to think of the heart as the first cause of the pain, there are numerous non cardiac causes of chest pain which need to be considered as well. Some of the non cardiac causes of chest pain can be quite simple and easy to take care of, while other causes can be just as deadly as damage to the heart itself.

Costochondritis

One of the most common causes of chest pain not related to the heart is a condition known as costochondritis. Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage located between the ribs. This inflammation is typically due to an acute infection. The pain associated with costochondritis often appears rapidly and can be quite intense. Because of this, it is commonly mistaken for a heart attack. The chest wall will become quite tender with costochondritis, which helps differentiate it from a heart attack.

Gastroesophageal Reflux

It is also possible to have chest pain from another common condition known as gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD. Reflux happens when the acid from the stomach flows backwards up into the esophagus, causing inflammation and damage to the inner lining of your esophagus. This happens more commonly in older people and people who eat a lot of spicy foods. Reflux and the associated pain is typically more common at night when a person is lying down.

Rib or Muscle Damage

If you suffer damage to the ribs or supporting muscles of the chest wall, you can experience significant pain. Ribs do an excellent job of protecting the organs in your chest, but they are able to be broken if enough force is applied to them. When they are broken, the resulting pain in the chest can be quite intense, especially when you move or twist your chest. Muscle tears or pulls to the supporting muscles of the chest wall can also cause chest pain.

Shingles

Infection with the virus which causes a shingles infection can sometimes cause pain in the chest. This shingles virus infects the nerves in the skin covering the chest. During an outbreak of the infection, the infected nerves become irritated and can become quite painful. This can quite easily cause a pain in the chest that is sharp and localized to the area of the infection.

Let’s look at some of the more serious and potentially deadly causes of chest pain not related to the heart directly.

Pneumothorax

A pneumothorax is the presence of air in the space between the

There are several possible candidates for the strongest muscle in the body dependent on what set of criteria you are judging it on. Most people will tell you that either the heart, colonic, jaw or tongue muscles are the strongest, although they are all the strongest in their own right for performing different tasks that none of the others could do. Should we judge the strongest in terms of single feats of strength, or for having a constant workload, or even for how far the muscle can be pushed before it stops functioning properly are all questions that need to be addressed before a single definitive answer can be given in this case.

In terms of having the biggest workload then the heart is undoubtedly the strongest muscle as it has to work 24 hours per day, every day to keep us alive. It also allows all the other muscles to work by supplying them with oxygen and energy through the bloodstream. A lot of the other muscles we can live without or replace with artificial intervention, but the heart is still required by all of us to survive, and as well as working constantly it has to work harder at times when we are exerting ourselves or stressed for example. Because of this it is also one of the strongest in terms of endurance, and is used by fat the most times in our lifetimes.

As a single feat of power though the heart isn’t that strong compared to some of the other muscles in the body. The jaw for example allows us to bite through many different tough food types that we may not be able to harm using our hands, and creates pressure in excess of a vice when we bite down on something as hard as we can. In fact the jaw muscles have the power to clamp so powerfully as to break all of our teeth in the process if you had any reason to do so.(i probably wouldn’t try this one personally).

There are only a few animal species that can match humans for jaw strength, and a lot of them are purely carnivorous rather then omnivorous as we are, which requires them to have a strong bite to kill their prey. These species also tend to be a lot larger then the average human as well, such as the tiger or the polar bear.

Similarly muscles such as the diaphragm muscles, or the core muscles in the thighs are also very strong and can move the entire body themselves. Similarly to the heart, the muscles in the diaphragm have to move the lungs and ribs up and down all the time as well, so are in effect equally as important. Even when we are laying on our fronts these muscles are strong enough to move our entire bodies up enough to enable breathing to take place and for the lungs to inflate.

Even the often overlooked shoulder and arm muscles are capable of incredible feats. There have been many cases of people getting a sudden rush of adrenalin in an emergency situation and lifting cars to free trapped people for example, which would make them contenders as well. These muscles can also be developed to the largest extent making them larger and more powerful than they would normally be, in the case of weightlifters or athletes.

Overall this leads to the fact that determining the strongest muscle in the body is dependent on the set of criteria which you are using and that is is very subjective when trying to name a single muscle that is stronger than any others. Popular and even medical opinion is divided about this question and so there really is no clear answer.

Introduction to Anatomy

In the context of science, anatomy is the study of the structures that make up a body like “the human body or a Perifera body. Gross anatomy is the study of these structures at the macroscopic level – everything that can be seen with the unaided eye.

A course in anatomy gives doctors several tools that are essential to the practice of medicine. The most apparent tool is the ability to describe the precise position of structures within the body, and to find these structures quickly – essential in any medical communication. More than this, doctors learn the precise function of many of the body’s more mechanical and macroscopic structures. Bones, muscles, and the central nervous system all cause changes in the body on the macroscopic as well as the microscopic level.

In a traditional anatomy course at medical school, lectures are accompanied by laboratory time, in which cadavers are dissected, allowing the medical student to study anatomical structures in situ. This gives the student a more thorough and complete knowledge of structures in relation to one another, and also a feeling of what these structures look and feel like – far more than any anatomical textbook could do. It also gives the student practical experience in identifying everything from bony landmarks to specific nerves and muscles.

The study of anatomy requires a lot of memorization, however this requirement is moderated by the use of systematic methods of learning, and even various tricks – such as mnemonics – wherever possible

General Considerations and Divisions.The brain, is contained within the cranium, and constitutes the upper, greatly expanded part of the central nervous system. In its early embryonic condition it consists of three hollow vesicles, termed the hind-brain or rhombencephalon, the mid-brain or mesencephalon, and the fore-brain or prosencephalon; and the parts derived from each of these can be recognized in the adult ,Thus in the process of development the wall of the hind-brain undergoes modification to form the medulla oblongata, the pons, and cerebellum, while its cavity is expanded to form the fourth ventricle. The mid-brain forms only a small part of the adult brain; its cavity becomes the cerebral aqueduct (aqueduct of Sylvius), which serves as a tubular communication between the third and fourth ventricles; while its walls are thickened to form the corpora quadrigemina and cerebral peduncles. The fore-brain undergoes great modification: its anterior part or telencephalon expands laterally in the form of two hollow vesicles, the cavities of which become the lateral ventricles, while the surrounding walls form the cerebral hemispheres and their commissures; the cavity of the posterior part or diencephalon forms the greater part of the third ventricle, and from its walls are developed most of the structures which bound that cav

The gluteus maximus is believed to be the strongest muscle in the body. Where’s that? Well … I could put in a lot of fancy words to describe it’s position; but, it’s essentially the … butt.

The gluteus msximus is a big muscle. Thus the name "maximus". In fact, it’s one of the biggest muscles in the body, located in the buttocks area. It originates in the pelvic region and runs all the up to the thighs.

This muscle does more than just fan your can. It is one of the major "extender" muscles of the thigh. And, when the body is flexed, your good ol’ gluteus maximus helps to raise it up again. This muscle also assists in performing certain rotational-type movements.

For all the bad press the butt has gotten over the years, it’s time to set the story straight and give it the credit it deserves!

There are quite a few debates on what the strongest muscle in the body is. However, the core muscles are commonly thought to be the strongest muscle in the body. Core muscles consist of the muscles found at the central region of the body which is divided into the four regions of abdominals, obliques, lower back and the gluteus. These areas are found in the front, side and back of the lower trunk and also the buttocks respectively.

The core muscles are the strongest because they provide major support for the body and its activity. Imagine an average person lifting a weight: the core muscles are giving most of the support to not only the body’s weight but also the extra strength needed in keeping the body upright to lift the weight. As such, the core muscles give rise to the general posture of a person. It could be noted that a good posture reflects the good condition of these muscle areas.

In fact, the core muscles are fundamental part of the body which provides the power necessary to perform most physical activities. This is a thing that most people overlook but it is one that they should know. Thus, it implies that people with strong core muscles are better able to perform physical activities because they can stabilize the body as a whole by maintaining stable equilibrium while the person is doing the task.

In brief, the main function of the core muscles is to offer sufficient strength to the body so that it can to cope up with the active demands of physical activities that a person needs to carry out. Health and fitness experts advocate strengthening the core muscles over other muscles in the body due to the importance of their primary purpose.

A series of research studies and experiments have also shown that having stronger core muscle can reduce quite a number of health problems relating to posture. Basically, a body with well-trained core muscles usually displays a great posture. Also, it can also maintain the upright pose of the back over a longer period without slouching.

You may have stereotype many old frail people as hunched and petite figure walking slowly with a stick. Well some of them actually do but you may in turn wonder why they have such a posture. The main reason is because they have not stretched their muscles especially after spending a long period of time at work on the desk. Over a very long period of time, calcium salts are gradually deposited in the joints and this will cause the immobilization. It is very difficult to reverse this calcification process and thus, old people with this pose often remain this way.

However, it does not mean that it is not possible to reverse this process. The best way to turn around this situation is through regular exercise that extends the muscles, especially the core muscles, thus improving their overall flexibility in the body. This is rather imperative because without doing so, other health problems will start to surface in the long run.

It is highly recommend by health and fitness experts that one should work the core muscles as soon as possible and repeat the procedure at least 2 times a week. This process can be carried out during the physical activity or even after any sporting activity for about 15 minutes. Indeed, the core muscles are extremely vital in shaping the posture of the body. As such, working the core muscles is essential to your overall health.

Cardiac cycle is the cycle of muscular activities that takes place in the heart and result in ejecting blood from the heart. Complete cardiac cycle can be defined as the cardiac events initiated by the P wave in the electrocardiogram and continuing until the next P wave.

The cardiac cycle is divided into two general categories: systole and diastole.

1. Systole: include events associated with ventricular contraction and ejection.

2. Diastole: includes the rest of the cardiac cycle, ventricular relaxation, filling.

The cardiac cycle is further divided into seven phases:

1. Atrial systole: refers to the contraction of the atrial muscle. As the atria contracts, the pressures within the atrial chambers increase, this drives blood from the atria, across the open AV valves, and into the ventricles. Atrial contraction normally accounts for only about 10% of left ventricular filling.

2. Isovolumetric contraction: This phase includes the contraction of the ventricle with all valves closed. The pressure in the ventricle increases. It is during this phase the 1st heart sound is heard, This sound is heard during the closure of the AV valves. Heart sound is generated when sudden closure of a heart valve and the accompanying oscillation of the blood cause vibrations that can be heard with a stethoscope overlying the heart.

3. Rapid ejection: When the intraventricular pressures exceed the pressures within the aorta and pulmonary artery, the aortic and pulmonary valves open and blood is ejected out of the ventricles. While blood is ejected and ventricular volumes decrease, the atria continue to fill with blood from their respective venous inflow tracts. No heart sounds are heard during ejection. The opening of healthy valves is silent. The presence of a sound during ejection (ejection murmurs) indicates valve disease or intracardiac shunts.

4. Reduced ejection: During this phase ventricular pressure falls slightly below outflow tract pressure; however, outward flow still occurs owing to kinetic (or inertial) energy of the blood that helps to propel the blood into the aorta and pulmonary artery. Atrial pressures gradually rise during this phase owing to continued venous return into the atrial chamber.

5. Isovolumetric relaxation: In this phase the ventricles relax, the intraventricular pressure decreases. When this occurs, a pressure gradient reversal causes the aortic and pulmonary valves to abruptly close (aortic before pulmonary), causing the second heart sound.

6. Rapid filling: When the ventricular pressures fall below atrial pressures, the AV valves open and ventricular filling begins. The ventricles briefly continue to relax, which causes intraventricular pressures to continue to fall by several mm Hg despite on-going ventricular filling. Filling is very rapid because the atria are maximally filled just prior to AV valve opening. Once the valves open, the elevated atrial pressures coupled with the low resistance of the opened AV valves results in rapid, passive filling of the ventricle.

7. Reduced filling: The reduced filling phase is the period during diastole when passive ventricular filling is nearing completion. Increased intraventricular pressure reduces the pressure gradient across the AV valve (the pressure gradient is the difference between the atrial and ventricular pressure) so that the rate of filling declines, even though atrial pressures continue to increase slightly as venous blood continues to flow into the atria. Aortic pressure and pulmonary arterial pressure continue to fall during this period as blood flows into the systemic and pulmonary circulations.

Human bones have the ability to heal themselves however depending on the severity of damage to the bone if there is no professional/medical assistance in the early stage of some types of broken bones then healing will occur with Deformity. Deformity then causes reduced function and of course does not look good.

The medical term for broken bone is Fracture.

A Fracture is defined as a complete or incomplete break in a bone resulting from application of excessive force.

Types of fractures

By observation

Open – This means either the skin is closed/not lacerated

Closed – the skin is opened/lacerated, the bone may be seen.

By Xray

Transverse- linear/horizontal break in bone

Greenstick- bone is bent like when trying to break a green twig occurs in children whose bones are not fully callcified

Comminuted – break has 3 or more fragments of bone

Healing occurs in 3 stages

1.Reactive Phase this is from time of injury to about 3 weeks

- Inflammatory phase – this is time of pain. A large blood clot is formed around the broken pieces of bone,like hugging the two broken ends together

- Granulation tissue formation- then the blood cells begin to die and special tissue producing cells called fibroblasts make a meshwork with the small blood vessels in area to form granulation tissue.

2. Repair Phase occurs 3 weeks to 12 mths but at about 12 weeks bone is formed in the callus bridging the gaps of fragments.

- Callus formation- this occurs inside the clot. cells called chondroblasts and osteoblasts from the outer covering of the bone begin to multiply from both pieces until they unite with each other filling the space with soft mesh-like bone.

- Lamellar bone deposition- mineriseled deposits occur here and during this process blood vessels also position themselves in the bone tissus. Then the gap between is closed

3. Remodeling Phase takes 1-2 years to achieve normal architecture.

- Remodeling to original bone contour – bone continues to harden by action of cells called osteoclasts and the osteoblasts and starts to get its original

shape.

Factors that promote healing

cessation of smoking -studies show decreased bone healing in smokers.

calcium rich healthy diet

regulated weight bearing of injured limb.

estrogen therapy may be suggested for older women.

Medical treatment

the aim is to prevent or treat infection to bone or surrounding tissue and promote proper healing.

1.Pain relief

2.Immobilization

-keeps The two pieces together for correct positioning,preventing deformity and for faster healing. This is done by use of splint, slings, casts,traction surgically placing pins/wires.

3.Rehabilitation-

With the non-use of muscles during healing especially in older persons stiffness and weakness occurs as a result of atrophy thus physiotherapy will be necessary- muscle strengthening exercises

Complications of a fracture

-deformity if not treated properly.

-infection

-clot in lung artery-pulmonary embolism usually only from leg fractures.

-compartment syndrome- excessive swelling of injured muscle can reduce blood flow -depriving muscle of oxygen and cause damage to the muscles.

-temporary loss of function of limb.

The Strongest Muscle In The Body

What is the strongest muscle? A very tough question that depends on who you ask. Medically, there are several that can be considered such as the heart, jaw, tongue, uterus, the list can go on until you have covered most of the over 630 muscles in the human body.

The strongest muscle is that muscle required to perform work at any given time. It could be a group of muscles or a single muscle. It is the one that responds to the demand and allows us to function almost flawlessly.

If I were to choose the muscle I believe is the front runner as the strongest muscle in the body, I would have to choose the heart.

The heart begins its work approximately 21 days after conception. It is the muscle all other muscles depend to do their work. Beating an average 100,000 times a day, the heart overcomes gravity to provide nutrients to the every organ, muscle, nerve, and tissue.

It is the force that maintains our blood pressure allowing us to breathe and exchange gases at all levels of respiration, ensuring oxygen is provided to all cells of the body and waste products are eliminated.

Unique among all muscles, the heart has the ability to adjust and continue to function under greater stresses than any other. When its blood supply begins to decrease due to clots, it sends out collateral feeds to bypass the clot as its first line of defense. When a heart attack occurs, it has the ability to overcome and continue to function. In an average lifetime, it will beat an average 8,640,000 times if you live to age 75.

I could go on and on listing reasons why the heart should be considered as the strongest muscle in the body. It is the only muscle that life is 100% dependent; its failure to perform its duty, inevitably results is death, therefore, the heart is the strongest muscle in the human body.