What are striated muscles?
Striated muscles are muscles in our bodies that have a striped appearance. This striped appearance is due to these muscles’ light and dark bands which appear in an alternate fashion.
Skeletal muscles are a type of striated muscles which are voluntary in nature. These muscles are part of the musculoskeletal system and they help the body in balance, posture and movement.
What are the different types of striated muscles?
The different types of striated muscles that are present in our body are skeletal and cardiac muscles.
Skeletal muscles are the muscles which are connected to our bones and are part of the musculoskeletal system. These muscles are in voluntary control of the brain and therefore help the body in movement.
Cardiac muscles are the muscles which are present exclusively in the muscular walls of the heart. These muscles are also striated in nature. They help in the contraction of the heart walls and in the pumping of the blood in our body. Unlike the skeletal muscles, cardiac muscles are involuntary in nature.
How do striated muscles work?
Striated muscles are defined as muscles that can contract and relax independently. They are classified as the type of muscle that is in parallel with each other since they all contract at the same time, but they can also contract at different times.
In a striated muscle, it is possible to see the individual fibres of the muscle running along its length. The muscle is composed of many cells called myofibrils which are very long strands of proteins called actin and myosin which twist around one another in a helical shape. When these two proteins run together, they create a contraction force which pulls on the fibres within the muscle cell. This causes them to pull on other cells in parallel with them until all of these cells have contracted together to form one larger unit.
What can happen if there are problems with the function of striated muscles?
With the striated muscles not functioning properly, the muscle fibres will not be able to contract and relax as they are supposed to. This can result in a variety of problems with the body, ranging from trembling or jerking muscles to difficulty breathing.
The three main types of striated muscles are skeletal, cardiac, and smooth. The main difference between these is that skeletal and cardiac muscles have a myofibril that is composed of actin and myosin. Smooth muscle cells don’t have this myofibril.
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