Heart Risk and Injury

Nitric Oxide, a gas that occurs naturally in the body, may do more than any prescription drug to prevent heart attack and stroke. Nitric Oxide is essential for healthy circulation. It helps dilate blood vessels, prevent blood clots and regulate blood pressure. It also helps inhibit the accumulation of dangerous arterial plaque. Nitric Oxide helps prevent heart disease and stroke in the following ways: blood vessels expansion and protecting the blood vessels smooth muscle tissue from harmful constriction. This allows the flexibility necessary for blood to circulate with less pressure. Exercise reduces the risk of a heart attack and protects the heart from injury if a heart attack does occur. For years, doctors have been trying to dissect how this second benefit of exercise works, with the aim of finding ways to protect the heart after a heart attack.

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified the ability of the heart to produce and store nitric oxide as an important way exercise protects the heart from injury.Nitric oxide, a short-lived gas generated within the body, turns on chemical pathways that relax blood vessels to increase blood flow and activate survival pathways.

Both the chemical nitrite and nitrosothiols appear to act as reservoirs for nitric oxide in situations where the body needs it, such as a lack of blood flow or oxygen.The Emory team's results, spearheaded by John Calvert and David Lefer, strengthen the case for nitrite and nitrosothiols as possible protectants from the damage of a heart attack.

Nitrosothiols have received much attention in biochemistry because they serve as donors of the nitrosonium ion NO+, and nitric oxide and some organic nitroso derivatives serve as signaling molecules in living systems, especially related to vasodilation. Red blood cells, for instance, release nitrosothiols into the bloodstream under low-oxygen conditions, causing the blood vessels to dilate.


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For Further Information :
http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/stories/2011/05/research_exercise_heart_nitric_oxide.html




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