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
标签：病患者论文; 心脏论文; Duringthestudy论文;