According to the study, it only took 24 hours after eating a large meal for the python heart to become much less stiff. [Related: Stressed rattlesnakes just need a little help from their friends.] ...

In the first 24 hours after a python devours its massive prey, its heart grows 25%, its cardiac tissue softens dramatically, and the organ squeezes harder and harder to more than double its pulse ...

In the first 24 hours after a python devours its massive prey, its heart grows 25%, its cardiac tissue softens dramatically, and the organ squeezes harder and harder to more than double its pulse.

Notably, diseased hearts struggle to do this. “We found that the python heart is basically able to radically remodel itself, becoming much less stiff and much more energy efficient, in just 24 hours,” ...

Post-doctoral researcher Thomas Martin said a stiff heart can’t pump or fill with blood very well, but the python has a unique ability to make its heart less stiff.

Study of pythons could lead to new therapies for heart disease, other illnesses Date: August 21, 2024 Source: University of Colorado at Boulder Summary: In the first 24 hours after a python ...