Heart-Pacing Devices Hold Promise for Heart Failure
THURSDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- New research provides more evidence that a new type of pacemaker/defibrillator technology may be a good option for patients with mild forms of heart failure.
An international team of researchers reports that the kind of heart "pacing" provided by new defibrillators and pacemakers can help these patients. But the research still needs to be confirmed before doctors begin embracing its findings, said a cardiologist familiar with the research.
The technology in question "is expensive, resource-intensive, and associated with increased risk of complications compared with less complex devices," explained Dr. Jeptha Curtis, an assistant professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine.
Heart failure occurs when the heart fails to pump blood properly, often as a result of heart attacks, and affects an estimated 5.7 million Americans. "Patients often feel fatigue, as well as shortness of breath from fluid building up in the lungs and swelling of the legs from fluid building up there as well," said Dr. Kevin Heist, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Heart failure occurs when the heart fails to pump blood properly, often as a result of heart attacks, and affects an estimated 5.7 million Americans. "Patients often feel fatigue, as well as shortness of breath from fluid building up in the lungs and swelling of the legs from fluid building up there as well," said Dr. Kevin Heist, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the nation's single leading cause of death for both men and women. At least 58.8 million people in this country suffer from some form of heart disease.
And on the whole, cardiovascular diseases (the combination of heart disease and stroke) kill some 950,000 Americans every year.
Still, there are many misconceptions about heart disease: "The biggest misconception is that heart disease only happens to the elderly," said Elizabeth Schilling, CRNP with the Center for Preventive Cardiology Program at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
In fact, according to the American Heart Association, almost 150,00 Americans killed by cardiovascular disease each year are under the age of 65. And one out of every 20 people below the age of 40 has heart disease.
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