How Does Poor Circulation Cause Loss of Energy in the Heart?
Maintaining a healthy heart means that we have to be aware of its needs. Among those needs is maintenance of adequate energy supplies to allow the heart to perform normally. When the heart is starved of energy, it is not able to perform its work properly. Energy is required for the contraction, or pumping, that provides blood flow to the body. Surprisingly, maximal levels of ATP are also required for relaxation. If the heart is not allowed to relax properly, it cannot fill with enough blood and the total blood flow through the heart is decreased. Heart cells show even higher losses of energy charge during ischemia than skeletal muscles. In one study done at the University of Minnesota, researchers showed that 15 minutes of ischemia in the heart led to a decrease in ATP by an amount greater that 50 percent! This study was done in dogs and was performed to mimic the effect of stopping the heart during surgery. Previous research has shown that the action of ATP metabolism in dogs and othe
