It's Topic Tuesday!

Hello everyone and I hope you are having a lovely start to your week! I am very excited to share a super interesting news today for Topic Tuesday.

Apparently, there is new evidence to suggest that the aorta may contribute more to our body's circulation than we previously imagined! Previously, it was believed that the heart was the primary pumping organ in the body and released oxygen rich blood into the aorta, which simply acted as a large channel carrying it to the rest of the body (without itself helping to pump anything).

https://www.uptodate.com/contents/image?imageKey=PI/74006

However, a new study from researchers at USC suggests that the aorta may actually take a more active role in perfusing, assisting the heart pushing blood forward through a series of "stretching" and "recoiling" to generate a wave-pump effect. Through a series of MRIs, the scientists were able to appreciate this wave-pump contribution from several patient's aortas suggesting its role in perfusing the body.

Even more excitingly - in the study, noticeable differences were seen in how the aorta stretched and recoiled in healthy patients compared to heart failure patients, suggesting that the aorta may take on more work when the heart isn't able to pump normally.

This is very exciting news as it may be a way to develop new treatments for patients with advanced heart failure! Now that we know the aorta could help offload some of the pumping demands of the body, researchers can next start looking for ways to enhance the aorta's wave-pumping effect.

For more information, check out this article at - https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/scientists-discover-a-second-heart-that-powers-our-blood-circulation/ar-AA1Co3hR?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=bd51471c66d842d49d3d2dc8d1eece6f&ei=6

That's all for this week and we will see you next week for more educational posts! Until next time, stay happy and stay healthy. Think Aorta!

Adham