Publisher's Synopsis
Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases in the world, being an important public health issue related with poverty and it is one of the main difficulties to the economy of a prevalent country. Among the several complications, the effects of malaria seem to target the skeletal muscle system, leading to symptoms, for example muscle fatigue, muscle pain, muscle aches, muscle contractures and muscle weakness. Malaria cause also parasitic coronary artery occlusion. In the knowledge and understanding of cardiac electrophysiology and severe malaria with a link to the hemodynamics. It also discusses the unwanted effects associated with the treatment of malaria. It is clear that there is a minimal electrophysiological disturbance associated with severe malaria. In severe malaria, there is a possible reduction in the intracellular calcium stores, resulting from the increased activity of the sodium-calcium pump activity. In addition to this, there is a reduction in the action potential duration (APD) during severe malaria supported by the increasingly reported tachycardia in malaria patients. These changes affect the mechanical activity of the heart. The disturbances resulting from the intracellular calcium handling lead to a reduction in the strength of contraction. While this is the case, a reduced APD further disturbs sarcoplasmic calcium stores, leading to a cascade in which the initiated changes are maintained without further external inputs. It is also stipulated that arrhythmic activity seen with some anti-malarial drugs adds to the changes that are already created. This book aims to add current knowledge regarding the effect of malaria disease and the anti-malarial drugs on skeletal and cardiac muscles. This research is significant for understanding the involvement of malaria parasites and anti-malarial therapies affecting skeletal and cardiac muscles were analysed. Requisitioning of red blood cells, increased levels of serum creatine kinase and reduced muscle content of essential contractile proteins are some of the potential biomarkers of the damage levels of skeletal and cardiac muscles. These biomarkers might be useful for prevention of complications and determining the effectiveness of interventions designed to protect cardiac and skeletal muscles from malaria-induced damage. Key Words: Arrhythmia, Fibrillation, Electrophysiology, severe Malaria and hemodynamics .
