新研究为心脏病患者带来新希望

新研究为心脏病患者带来新希望

Heartdiseaseandstroketogetheraretheworld’sgreatestkiller.TheWorldHealthOrganizationshowsthatcardiovasculardiseasealoneclaimsmorethan17millionlivesayear.

IntheU.S.,thesurvivalrateisonein10forvictimsofheartattacksoutsideahospital...astatisticthathasnotchangedin30years.Butnewresearchindicatesthereisroomforimprove-ment.

ResearchersattheUniversityofMichiganfoundthatifpeoplelivinginpoorneighborhoodsreceivedCPRinstruction,heartattackvictimstherewouldhaveabetterchanceofsurvival.

Thestudyfoundpeopleinpoorneighborhoodsaretwotothreetimesmorelikelytohaveaheartattackthanthoselivinginawealthierpartoftown.Lifestylechanges,newmedicationsandtreatmentscanalsohelpkeepheartdis-easeatbay.

“Overthelastdecadewehavecontinuedtoseeimprovementsincardiovascularmortality,”saysCardiologistHarindraWijeysundera.Hesayshefounddeathsfromheartdiseasedroppedbyasmuchas35percentforpeoplelivinginOntario,Canadabetween1994and2005.Dr.Wijeysunderasayschangesinlifestyleandbehaviorhadalottodowithit.

“About48percentofthisreductionwasassociatedwithimprovementsinriskfactors,soforinstancetherewasareductioninbloodpressureandtotalcholesterol,andinsmoking,”hestated.

Duringthestudy,thenumberofCanadianswhosmokeddecreasedsubstantially.Smokingisamajorcon-tributortoheartdisease.Alsoduringthattime,doctorsincreasedprescriptionsformedicationstocontrolbloodpres-sure...resultinginanothermajorreduc-tionincardiovasculardeaths.ThestudywaspublishedintheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation.

Andfinally,newmedicaldevicesplayaroleinhearthealth.Anewdevice,nobiggerthanapaperclip,couldrevo-lutionizethewayheartfailureisman-aged.

Heartfailureiscausedbyhighbloodpressureorcoronaryarterydis-ease,anarrowingofthearteriesintheheart.Thedevicehasperformedwellinclinicaltrials.

“Ithasbeenadecadesincewehaveseenatrialthispositive,”Dr.WilliamAbrahamofOhioStateUniver-sitysaid.

Thedeviceisatinysensor,im-plantedthroughacatheterintheheart’spulmonaryartery.Theproceduretakesjustsevenminutes.Thepatientpassesawandoverhischest,collectingdataonheartpressure.Thatdataissentelec-tronicallytothedoctor’scomputer.

Thedoctorcanthenmodifymedi-cationsquickly,ifneeded.Withthesensor,patientshavea30percentchanceofavoidinghospitalization.

Rightnow,ascaleisoneoftheonlywaystomonitorpatients.Peoplewithheartfailuretendtogainweightbecausefluidsbuildupwhentheheartcan’tpumpenoughblood.Butmoni-toringweightisnottheidealwaytomonitortheheart.

“Dailyweightchangeisinsensi-tiveatpredictingepisodesofworseningheartfailure,”Dr.Abrahamsaid.

TheU.S.FoodandDrugAdmin-istrationhasnotyetapprovedthedevicetobeusedforheartfailurepatients.Thedevicemightalsoreducestressbecausepatientswillknowiftheirfluidsareat

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新研究为心脏病患者带来新希望
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