synergist

1. A synergistic organ, drug, or agent.
2. Christianity. An adherent of synergism.

1. A drug, food additive, or other chemical that interacts with another substance so that their combined effect (known as synergy) is more than the sum of their separate effects. These may be beneficial or harmful. In foods, vitamin E and selenium have overlapping functions, each can replace the other to some extent. When together, they may act as synergists, each increasing the effect of the other as an antioxidant. The term synergist is also applied to health-risk factors. For example, studies in the USA have revealed a synergistic effect of smoking and drinking alcohol on the risk of oral cancer. It was found that moderate drinking increases the risk by 60 per cent; moderate smoking increases the risk by 52 per cent; but moderate drinking combined with moderate smoking increased the risk by 400 per cent.

2. A muscle which aids the action of a prime mover (a muscle which has the main responsibility for a particular movement). The synergist may produce the same movement as the prime mover, or it may stabilize the joints across which the prime mover acts, preventing undesirable movements.

1. A muscle that aids the action of a prime mover by effecting the same movement or prevents undesirable movements by stabilizing joints across which the prime mover acts.

2. A drug that interacts with another drug so that the combined effects of the two drugs is more than the sum of their separate effects.

An agent that acts with or enhances the action of another, e.g. parainfluenza 3 virus and Mannheimia haemolytica in cattle.

Synergist is a kind of muscle which performs, or assist in performing, the same set of joint motion as the agonists. Synergists are muscles that act on movable joints . Synergists are sometimes referred to as "neutralizers" because they help cancel out, or neutralize, extra motion from the agonists to make sure that the force generated works within the desired plane of motion.

Synergist is also a student union at the University of Melbourne. They actively harass students during election times.

See also

• Antagonist (muscle)
• Synergy

This muscle article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)