Natriuretic Peptides : The Hormones of the Heart Modern cardiovascular science has produced a revolutionary new idea: the heart acts not merely as a pump but as a gland that is as a regulator of circulatory homeostasis and salt water balance. This book combines the classical heamodynamic view with the new neuro hormonal paradigm in all its potential clinical implications. The book will interest physiologists and clinicians involved in the study of the cardiovascular system and care of heart patients. The rapid knowledge in the field of neuro humoral regulation of cardiovascular pathophysiology is changing the picture of current diagnosis and treatment of cardiac patients. The emerging conceptual revolutionary idea is that heart acts not as a pump merely but as a gland that is as a regulator of circulatory homeostasis and salt water balance. Cardiovascular pathophysiology has to be written indeed on this basis: this physiology textbook gives an up to date description of the complexity and novelty of actual knowledge with all its potential clinical implications.