Hypertrophy
In biology,hypertrophyis the increase in size of anorgan,beyond normal growth. Hypertrophy happens because thecellsgrow bigger. The condition where an organ is bigger, because there are more cells is calledhyperplasia.
Some cells likeadipocytes(fat cells) get larger by expanding outward while filling up with morelipidcontents, whilemyocytes(muscle cells) can fuse with other myocytes to form huge myotube cells.Organsortissuescan grow larger due to the enlargement of their componentcells.One of the most common and visible forms of normal, organ hypertrophy occurs inskeletal musclesin response tostrength trainingorbodybuilding.
In contrast, tissues and organs can also get larger by another mechanism, hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase innumber.Although hypertrophy and hyperplasia are two distinct processes, they frequently occur together. Thehormonally-induced proliferation and enlargement of the cells of theuterusduringpregnancyis an example of this combination under normal conditions. In some tumors, enlargement can occur by an increase in the number of cells together with the occurrence of some abnormally large cells.