Heart pump blood through the heart and into the major arteries. The pacemaker cells make up 1% of cells and form the conduction system of the heart. They are generally much smaller than the contractile cells and have few myofibrils which gives them limited contractibility. Their function is similar in many respects to neurons. Cardiac muscle tissue has autorhythmicity, the unique ability to initiate a cardiac action potential at a fixed rate – spreading the impulse rapidly from cell to cell to trigger the contraction of the entire heart. There are specific proteins expressed in cardiac muscle cells. These are mostly
Cardiac glycoside the heart does not have to exert as much force to pump the blood, or directly increasing the heart's contractile force, so that the heart can overcome the higher blood pressure. Cardiac glycosides, such as the commonly used digoxin and digitoxin, deal with the latter, due to their positive inotropic activity. On the other hand, cardiac arrhythmia are changes in heart rate, whether faster (tachycardia) or slower (bradycardia). Medicinal treatments for this condition work primarily to counteract tachycardia or atrial fibrillation by slowing down heart rate, as done by cardiac glycosides. Nevertheless, due to questions of toxicity and dosage, cardiac