Hey tim, saw this story on VASO this weekend: Treatment a bypass surgery alternative
12/18/2005 9:13 AM
By: Casey Taylor, News 14 Carolina
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Bypass Alternative
A new treatment called EECP, which pumps blood from the legs back to the patient's heart, is now an alternative to bypass surgery.
It’s one of the most common heart procedures in China, and now it’s gaining popularity in the United States. It looks uncomfortable, but patients say it doesn’t hurt, and it’s giving them a new chance at life – for many, without surgery.
Larry Rodarmer died five years ago from a heart attack. Doctors brought him back to life, but his heart was damaged. He couldn’t walk to his kitchen without getting tired.
Nora Cina loves dancing but had to give it up because of the pain in her chest.
Now Rodarmer and Cina share a treatment room. They will lie on beds and exercise.
Nora Cina undergoes EECP treatment.
This treatment is called enhanced external counter-pulsation, or EECP. Cardiologist Lingappa Amarchand, M.D., offers this as an alternative to bypass surgery.
“It’s a non-invasive way of treating coronary heart disease,” said Amarchand of Cardiology Associates in Spring Hill, Fla.
As the patient’s legs are squeezed, blood flow is pumped back to the heart. The pulses are timed to the patient’s heartbeat.
“It creates new channels of blood supply around the heart,” Amarchand said.
Studies show 85 percent of patients see an improvement in their symptoms.
A cardiologist checks the heart monitor for one of his EECP patients.
“I guess one of the prouder moments was when I was able to rake my lawn for the first time,” Rodarmer said.
“It’s definitely a life-saving treatment,” Cina said.
Rodarmer said he often falls asleep during the treatment.
“It looks uncomfortable, but it’s really not,” he said.
A session includes a one-hour treatment, five days a week for seven weeks – 35 treatments that add up to years of relief.
The total cost is about $5,000. EECP is FDA approved and covered by Medicare and most insurance companies.
One of the side effects of the treatment is weight loss. On average a person loses 10-12 pounds during the seven-week treatment.
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Consider anything a fish says as borderline entertainment at best, and most likely another lousy stock pick he'll lose his tail on again. circa 2005 source unknown
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