The Painless Heart

10/28/21 • 37 min

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Why does my heart not ache after exercise? asks listener Keith. Rutherford and Fry explore how and why heart muscle cells are special.

Dr Mitch Lomax is a sports scientist at the University of Portsmouth. She helps actual Olympic swimmers get faster. She explains how most of the muscles attached to our skeletons work: Tiny fibres use small-scale cellular energy, which, when all these fibres work in concert, turns into visible muscular movement. Mitch also explains how the dreaded Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS, can hit, taking a stair-wincing 48-72 hours to peak after exercise.

But skeletal muscles turn out to be quite different to heart muscles, as consultant cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis explains. Heart cells are more efficient and don't get fatigued like skeletal muscle cells. They are extremely energetic and 'just want to beat'. He also explains that the sensory feedback from the heart muscles is different too. They have a different sort of nerve supply, with fewer sensory nerves, so that there is less chance of pain signals being sent to the brain.

However, heart cells' incredible abilities are counterbalanced by one Achilles-like flaw: They cannot easily heal. Professor Sanjay Sinha is a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Senior Research Fellow and a Professor in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the University of Cambridge. His job is to fix broken hearts and he explains to Adam how new research into stem cells could be used to fix normally irreparable heart cells.

Presenters: Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford

Producers: Jennifer Whyntie and Fiona Roberts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2021.

Why does my heart not ache after exercise? asks listener Keith. Rutherford and Fry explore how and why heart muscle cells are special.

Presenters: Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford

Producers: Jennifer Whyntie and Fiona Roberts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2021.

Previous Episode

The Weirdness of Water Part 2/2

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“I don’t really understand why water has so many properties on different scales ranging from very large and cosmic to very small quantum and quarky - Could you help by zooming in and out on water to explain what is known about it? "Asks Neil Morton in Stirling.

“Why does boiling water sound different to cold water?’ asks Barbara Dyson in Brittany in France

Ollie Gordon, in Christchurch in New Zealand, wants to know ‘why water is essential for all life as we know it?’

And many more questions on the weirdness of water are tackled by super science sleuths Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford.

With assistance from:

Quantum physicist Professor Patricia Hunt, at the Victoria University in Wellington in New Zealand

Science writer and author of ‘H2O – a biography of water’ Philip Ball

Physicist and bubble expert in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCL, Dr Helen Czerski.

Producer: Fiona Roberts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2021.

Next Episode

The Slippery Situation

'What is the slipperiest thing in the world?' asks 8 year old Evelyn.

Why do my feet slip on a wet floor but when my feet are even slightly moist it's nearly impossible to put on a pair of socks without falling over and cursing the universe. What is going on here?' asks Evelyn's Dad, Sam.

Hannah and Adam investigate the science of friction and lubrication - so called 'tribology' with the help of tribologists and mechanical engineers Professor Ashlie Martini from California University Merced and Professor Roger Lewis from the University of Sheffield.

With their help Hannah and Adam find out why leaves on the line are so slippery, what happens to graphite in space and what is the slipperiest food. Professor of Materials, Mark Miodownik from University College London explains what's going on when friction stops two materials sliding past each other and wonders whether the slipperiest substance was actually discovered accidentally in a lab by scientists looking for something completely different.

Also in the programme why the ability to reduce friction, even by minuscule amounts could have a huge impact for sustainability and reducing energy use.

Producers: Jen Whyntie and Pamela Rutherford

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2021.