Cantin, M. and J. Genest: "The Heart as an Endocrine Gland," Scientific American, February 1986, pages 76–81. An account of the discovery of atrial peptides, and interesting speculation on how they work in regulating blood pressure and volume.

Eisenberg, M., and others: "Sudden Cardiac Death," Scientific American, May 1986, pages 37–93. An account of the role of rapid medical intervention in coping with serious heart attacks.

Gillis, A.: "As Good as Blood? The Creation of Blood Substitutes Has Been Harder than Scientists Predicted, but Recent Improvements Are Encouraging," BioScience, vol. 43, September 1993, pages 517-20. Imagine a world where blood would never be in short supply and never have the possibility of going bad or being tainted! Researchers have been imagining such a world for some time now, although the construction of a synthetic version of something as complex as a blood cell is understandably quite challenging.

Goldstein, G. and A.L. Betz: "The Blood-Brain Barrier," Scientific American, September 1986, pages 74–83. A description of brain capillaries and the special ways in which they guard what enters and leaves the brain.

Hajjar, D.P. and A.C. Nicholson: "Atherosclerosis," American Scientist, vol. 83, September–October, 1995, page 460. An excellent review of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that normally protect blood vessels against damage and of how abnormal responses produce atherosclerosis.

Keating, M. T. and M. C. Sanguinetti: "Molecular Genetics Insights into Cardiovascular Disease," Science, vol. 272, May 3, 1996, pages 681-85. Researchers identify specific mechanisms that are affected in inherited forms of cardiovascular disease and are developing genetic tests and treatment for the defects.

Long, P.: "A Town with a Golden Gene," Health, vol. 8, January/February 1994, pages 60ff. In Limone, Italy, a fortuitous mutation in a gene is providing several generations of a family with resistance to heart disease via regulated levels of HDL. HDL.s and their role in heart disease are discussed along with the study of the Italian villagers. Another article in the same issue by the same author discusses "good" and "bad" cholesterol (page 65).

Perutz, M.F.: "Hemoglobin Structure and Respiratory Transport," Scientific American, December 1978, pages 92–125. An account of how hemoglobin changes its shape to facilitate oxygen binding and unloading, by the man who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in medicine for unraveling the structure of hemoglobin.

Robinson, T., S. Factor, and E. Sonneblink: "The Heart as a Suction Pump," Scientific American, June 1986, pages 84–91. Between birth and death our hearts beat millions of times. These authors argue that the heart is aided greatly in this Herculean task by a very clever trick: contraction compresses elastic elements within the heart muscles, which then bounce back to expand the ventricles.

Wickelgren, I.: "New Devices Are Helping Transform Coronary Care," Science, vol. 272, May 3, 1996, pages 668-70. The development of new cardiovascular aids, such as mechanical hearts, internal defibrillators, and netal scaffoldings for arteries, give heart disease patients a promising outlook.

Willensky, D.: "Circulatory Systems," American Health, vol. 13, May 1994, pages 104-5. A nice overview article discussing the structure and function of the circulatory system, with illustrations.

Zucker, M.B.: "The Functioning of the Blood Platelets," Scientific American, June 1980, pages 86–103. A description of the many roles of platelets, with emphasis on their role in blood clotting.