Most Things Biology

Cardiac & Smooth Muscle in Crisis

Time To Read

1–2 minutes

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PART 1

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PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

7

CHART CLUE

Stina’s incapacitating muscle pain during fevers and the days of bone-deep exhaustion after each attack are not deconditioning, depression, or “just being tired” — they are IL-1β/IL-6–driven metabolic exhaustion of muscle. Calcium returns here as the switch that fires every contraction, and the muscle pain a brief statin trial caused only muddied the picture further.

The Story

From Stina’s chart:

Compare Stina’s uninfected appendix to an infected appendix.

Activity:

Activity:

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Post-Attack Exhaustion

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IL-1β/IL-6–driven exhaustion

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