{"id":13952,"date":"2026-09-29T08:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?p=13952"},"modified":"2026-09-29T08:56:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:56:45","slug":"glossary-of-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Glossary of the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14002\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Cardiovascular disease <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">accounts for<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/world-heart-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> one in three deaths worldwide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">, making it <\/span><b>the leading cause of death today<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. Behind this figure lies a long list of conditions whose symptoms don&#8217;t always give any warning, and risk factors that can go unnoticed until their consequences are irreversible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">That&#8217;s why cardiovascular research is advancing in three crucial and complementary directions: firstly, <\/span><b>prevention <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">before the first symptoms appear; secondly, more accurate<\/span><b> diagnosis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">; and finally, the development <\/span><b>of treatments <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">capable of repairing damage to the heart and restoring its function once the disease has developed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Today, on World Heart Day, we highlight some of the areas our research community is working on, which define the present and open up new paths towards the future of these three fields, all with a shared goal: <\/span><b>to improve the care of our hearts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Welcome to our Glossary of the Heart<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>PREVENTION<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/heart-health\/prevention\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>80% of cardiovascular diseases are preventable<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. One of the goals of current research is to anticipate them: knowing the state of our hearts and understanding what can cause them to become diseased prematurely are two key aspects in achieving this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Cardiac age<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the Greek and Latin: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kardia, aetas<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">An estimate of the biological age of a person\u2019s cardiovascular system, calculated based on risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, weight, physical activity and medical history.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">More and more cardiovascular problems are being detected at an early age, <\/span><b>even before 40<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. What&#8217;s causing our hearts to age prematurely? And above all, can we prevent it?<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14018\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14018\" class=\"wp-image-14018\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-03-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Borja Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2025-project-heart-risks-oncology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Borja Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">, a researcher and \u2018la Caixa\u2019 Foundation fellow (National Centre for Cardiovascular Research, CNIC), is studying why cardiovascular diseases are appearing at an increasingly younger age and how we can anticipate them. In our article <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/how-old-is-your-heart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2018How old is your heart?<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2019, he explores, alongside other researchers, the causes of this trend and the challenges involved in preventing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Cardiovascular risk<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the Greek and Latin: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kardia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vasculum,<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">resecum<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">The likelihood of suffering a serious cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or a stroke, due to a disease of the heart or blood vessels.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Is it possible to calculate our chances of having a heart attack or stroke before it occurs? The answer depends on <\/span><b>many factors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">: age, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diet and a sedentary lifestyle, among others. Some of these can be changed and others cannot, but being aware of them enables us to estimate cardiovascular risk and take action before the disease develops.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14014\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14014\" class=\"wp-image-14014\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-02-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Valent\u00ed Fuster<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2018-project-atherosclerosis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Valent\u00ed Fuster<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (CNIC) has spent decades investigating how to identify and reduce the factors that increase cardiovascular risk. In this blog post, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/4-consejos-para-prevenir-las-enfermedades-cardiovasculares\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u20184 tips for preventing cardiovascular disease\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">, he shares some of the key ways to reduce this risk and look after our cardiovascular health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>DIAGNOSIS<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Perfusion magnetic resonance imaging<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">From the Latin:<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> perfundere, magnet\u012dcus, resonantia, imago<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">A technique that assesses blood flow in real time in organs such as the brain or heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. It occurs when blood flow to the heart is restricted, and <\/span><b>early detection is essential <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">to enable action to be taken before it leads to potentially serious consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">One of the techniques used to study this is cardiac perfusion magnetic resonance imaging, a non-invasive test that reveals how well the blood is reaching the heart. However, the images produced still have <\/span><b>limitations <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">and the data can be complex to interpret.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14026\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14026\" class=\"wp-image-14026\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-04-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14026\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Teresa Mat\u00edas Correia; right: perfusion magnetic resonance imaging.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">To improve this technique, researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2022-project-coronary-heart-disease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Teresa Matias Correia<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (Centre of Marine Sciences, CCMAR-Algarve) is combining mathematical models of blood flow with artificial intelligence to <\/span><b>obtain more accurate images and improve diagnosis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. Would you like to find out more? Read all about it in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/prevencion-diagnostico-y-tratamiento-cuidado-del-corazon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2018Science focuses on heart care<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>TREATMENT<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Once cardiovascular disease has appeared, the challenge is <\/span><b>to repair the damage, restore heart function and improve patients\u2019 quality of life<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. To achieve this, research is exploring increasingly precise strategies: from stimulating tissue regeneration to developing new devices, drugs and therapies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Angiogenesis<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the Greek: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ange\u00eeon<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">genesis<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">A biological process by which new blood vessels are formed from pre-existing ones.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">When a heart attack occurs, part of the heart&#8217;s tissue may be irreversibly damaged. What if we could help the heart to recover some of that function?<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14022\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14022\" class=\"wp-image-14022\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-06-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14022\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Rui Benedito; right: angiogenesis.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-meeting-health-2023-who-is-who-rui-miguel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Rui Benedito<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (CNIC) and his team are studying <\/span><b>how to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">using gene and drug therapies. This strategy could open up new avenues for repairing the heart after a heart attack and preventing the onset of heart failure. Find out more about their project <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/prevencion-diagnostico-y-tratamiento-cuidado-del-corazon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">in the blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Sequential cardiac resynchronisation<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">From the Latin and Greek:<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> sequentia, kardia, re-, synchronos<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">A technique involving electrical stimulation designed to restore the heart\u2019s natural rhythm following heart failure.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">As heart failure progresses, some patients require a <\/span><b>biventricular pacemaker <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">to resynchronise the contraction of the ventricles. However, around <\/span><b>one in three don&#8217;t respond adequately <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">to this treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14034\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14034\" class=\"wp-image-14034\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-05-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Adelino Leite-Moreira; right: sequential cardiac resynchronization.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">To improve these outcomes, the team led by researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-meeting-health-2022-who-is-who-adelino-leite-moreira\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Adelino Leite-Moreira<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (University of Porto, UP) is developing an alternative: sequential cardiac resynchronisation therapy (SECRET), a device capable of adapting to the heart\u2019s electrical impulses which can be implanted using <\/span><b>minimally invasive techniques<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">. The prototype is currently in the preclinical phase. Would you like to find out more? Read all about it in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/prevencion-diagnostico-y-tratamiento-cuidado-del-corazon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">this article in our research blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Mechanical heart valve<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">From the Latin and Old English:<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> mechan\u012dcus, heorte, valv\u016dla<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">A highly durable artificial device (made from materials such as pyrolytic carbon and titanium) designed to replace a damaged valve in the heart.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Is it possible to replace a mechanical heart valve without resorting to open-heart surgery? A study led by researchers <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaimpulse-health-innovation-call-2024-identify-endocarditis-embolism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Alberto San Rom\u00e1n<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (Valladolid University Clinical Hospital) and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-health-call-2025-project-heart-risks-oncology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Borja Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (CNIC) demonstrates that it is. <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14030\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14030\" class=\"wp-image-14030\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-07-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Alberto San Rom\u00e1n; centre: mechanical heart valve; right: Borja Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">This new technique could offer a <\/span><b>less invasive alternative <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">for elderly patients with valvular disease. The project was also the subject of a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/march-snapshot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2018Snapshot of the Month<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2019, in which architect and visual artist <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/becarios.fundacionlacaixa.org\/ca\/maria-rius-ruiz-B005271?doAsUserId=J19cch66Cl%2FMuDkkBiJ%2FDA==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Maria Rius<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> explored the breakthrough from an artistic perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Epicardium<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the Greek: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">epi-<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">kardia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-ium<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">The membrane covering the heart, essential for its formation and regeneration in adulthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">For years, research has sought <\/span><b>to regenerate the heart following a heart attack <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">using stem cells, with results that have so far been limited. We now know that the epicardium itself can play a key role in this repair of cardiac tissue.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14074\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14074\" class=\"wp-image-14074\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-09-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Ofelia Mart\u00ednez; right: epicardium.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M_fj50ZJSww&amp;ab_channel=Fundaci%C3%B3n%22laCaixa%22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Ofelia Mar\u00eda Mart\u00ednez Estrada<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> (University of Barcelona, UB), together with her team, has demonstrated that epicardial cells are involved in the <\/span><b>formation of healthy tissue <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">following a heart attack. This discovery opens up new avenues for the development of future regenerative treatments. Read all about it in the article <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/la-investigacion-avanza-nuevos-horizontes-en-la-prevencion-diagnostico-y-tratamiento-de-las-enfermedades-cardiovasculares\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u201cNew horizons in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Cardioprotective photopharmacology<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">From the Greek and Latin:<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> kardia, protegere, ph\u014dto-, ph\u00e1rmakon, logos\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Light-activated drugs that dilate blocked blood vessels during angioplasty, acting locally to reduce the need for prolonged treatment and its side effects.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">One of the major challenges in pharmacology is to develop <\/span><b>more effective and precise treatments <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">with fewer side effects. Photopharmacology aims to achieve this through drugs that are activated only when exposed to light, providing control over where, when and for how long they act.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_14038\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14038\" class=\"wp-image-14038\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-08-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Left: Amadeu Llebar\u00eda; right: cardioprotective photodrug.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaimpulse-health-innovation-call-2024-drugs-chronic-pain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Amadeu Llebaria<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2019s team (Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia, IQAC-CSIC) is investigating this strategy to reduce the damage caused to the heart during a heart attack and to move towards <\/span><b>more localised and precise cardioprotective treatments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">You can read his interview in the Health Research Debate<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/puede-un-farmaco-activado-por-luz-restaurar-la-vision-o-reducir-lesiones-cardiacas-cronica\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">: \u2018Can a light-activated drug restore vision or reduce heart damage?<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14002\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Cardiovascular disease accounts for<a href=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/world-heart-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> one in three deaths worldwide<\/a>, making it the leading cause of death today. Behind this figure lies a long list of conditions whose symptoms don&#8217;t always give any warning, and risk factors that can go unnoticed until their consequences are irreversible.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why cardiovascular research is advancing in three crucial and complementary directions: firstly, prevention before the first symptoms appear; secondly, more accurate diagnosis; and finally, the development of treatments capable of repairing damage to the heart and restoring its function once the disease has developed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Today, on World Heart Day, we highlight some of the areas our research community is working on,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[601,600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","category-science-outreach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Glossary of the Heart - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Glossary of the Heart - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cardiovascular disease accounts for one in three deaths worldwide, making it the leading cause of death today. Behind this figure lies a long list of conditions whose symptoms don&#8217;t always give any warning, and risk factors that can go unnoticed until their consequences are irreversible. That&#8217;s why cardiovascular research is advancing in three crucial and complementary directions: firstly, prevention before the first symptoms appear; secondly, more accurate diagnosis; and finally, the development of treatments capable of repairing damage to the heart and restoring its function once the disease has developed.\u00a0 Today, on World Heart Day, we highlight some of the areas our research community is working on,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-29T07:25:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-29T07:56:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/\",\"name\":\"Glossary of the Heart - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-29T07:25:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-29T07:56:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b9d5310c27055b4862191402c387fca\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-dm-cor-01-EN.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b9d5310c27055b4862191402c387fca\",\"name\":\"Ubikmedia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ccc66bc497f8ba496f9d06e5a58a91de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ccc66bc497f8ba496f9d06e5a58a91de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ubikmedia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/author\/ubikmedia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Glossary of the Heart - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/glossary-of-the-heart\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Glossary of the Heart - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia","og_description":"Cardiovascular disease accounts for one in three deaths worldwide, making it the leading cause of death today. 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