A 20-year-old young man, Richard (not his real name) considered he was given a very special present a new heart a new life, when he underwent a successful heart transplantation operation on New Years Eve of the year of 2004.
When he was 16, he suffered his first heart attack when he felt his heart beating abnormally fast and his chest tighten in pain. 3 more heart attacks were triggered when he was sent to hospital. He was diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and ventricular tachycardia. He was a rare case of genetic heart disease.
An Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (AICD) was implanted in his chest which will be triggered to electric-shock his heart back to normal rhythm in the event of a heart attack. This little mechanical device saved his life many times in the next 4 years.
Physically, he was not like before. He tired easily with weight reduced drastically. Though he could continue his college study, his heart was dying. Shortly after suffering a serious heart attack triggered by a bout of fever in 2003, he had 2 more attacks. He was hospitalized twice in a week. 6 months later, his legs were swelled and he was again hospitalized. He was referred to the heart transplant coordinator for a heart transplant because his heart function was then down to 10 percent and a heart transplant was the only way to save him.
He was very depressed and thought he was doomed for sure.
Having too many doubts in his mind, he finally made up his mind to go ahead with the transplant after he saw other heart transplanted patients without recognizing them as one.
Nevertheless, he had to bear a series of frustration, anger, hopelessness especially when his first suitable donor got away due to unforeseen circumstances. To add to his disappointment, the heart of the second donor was too big for him although the blood type and tissue were matched.
On Christmas 2004, he finally got his special gift a new heart, a new life.
His journey was never alone. The doctors and medical personnel were there trying their best to keep his heart pumping. Most importantly, they kept his spirit up and never let him give up. His parents had to find means to support his huge medical fees.
He just like a normal person although he needs the discipline and willpower to take his medications everyday, go to cardiac rehabilitation every week, and control his diet. He can now engage with outdoor activities like swimming and camping.
He encourages people with heart disease to battle it out and not to let the disease take the heart out of living. Heart problem can happen to both young and old, be it congenital or not. The first step to take care of your heart is aware of your heart health!
America's Most Trusted Doctor Reveals ... How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease - Without Drugs or Surgery. Read more about his confession at: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com/heart-disease-prevention-dr-robert-article.html
2007年12月30日星期日
2007年11月23日星期五
What Is Sudden Cardiac Death?
If you can still remember, three young high profile professional athletes: Reggie Lewis (basketball player), Darryl Kile (baseball pitcher), and Marc Vivien Foe (football player) all died of sudden cardiac death or sudden death due to a fatal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation.
Sudden cardiac death is sudden and unexpected with death occurring within minutes after collapse. It is more common to older folks with serious heart ailments although it sometimes does happen to those young and healthy people with no outward sign of heart disease.
It is not the same as heart attack but a heart attack may actually cause sudden cardiac death either during the first few hours of the heart attack or many years after the attack. To differentiate the two, one can think of sudden cardiac death as an electrical malfunction and heart attack as one that is caused by blocked arteries (plumbing malfunction). To be more precise, sudden cardiac death arises when millions of short-circuits occur in the heart, causing the heart pump to fail and cease to deliver life-sustaining blood, oxygen and nutrients. The person thus becomes unconscious. Death can occur just within minutes if the situation is not remedies.
The only chance of survival for a victim of sudden cardiac death is to re-start his or her heart by an electrical shock from a machine known as a defibrillator. There are few types of defibrillators, namely manual external defibrillators (MED), automatic external defibrillators (AED), and implantable defibrillators (ICD).
Only trained personnel such as doctors, nurses, or paramedics can operate MED whereas AED can be operated by lay persons with minimal training. These machines automatically recognized heart rhythms that are treatable by electrical shock, and prompt the user to press the shock button. The machines are easy to operate and have been used successfully in airports, casinos and other public places to resuscitate victims of cardiac arrest.
ICD is implanted into a persons body by surgery. It is fully automatic, and it can recognize and treat ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation without any external intervention, usually even before the person has lost consciousness.
In order to prevent sudden cardiac death, it is necessary to take a complete medical history, including a detailed family history of any cardiovascular disease, and carry out a thorough physical examination. If any symptom of heart disease, such as palpitations, fainting spells, chest pain, or breathlessness on physical exertion, is evident, and then further investigation that includes an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram is compulsory.
America's Most Trusted Doctor Reveals ... How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease - Without Drugs or Surgery. Read more about his confession at: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com/heart-disease-prevention-dr-robert-article.html
Sudden cardiac death is sudden and unexpected with death occurring within minutes after collapse. It is more common to older folks with serious heart ailments although it sometimes does happen to those young and healthy people with no outward sign of heart disease.
It is not the same as heart attack but a heart attack may actually cause sudden cardiac death either during the first few hours of the heart attack or many years after the attack. To differentiate the two, one can think of sudden cardiac death as an electrical malfunction and heart attack as one that is caused by blocked arteries (plumbing malfunction). To be more precise, sudden cardiac death arises when millions of short-circuits occur in the heart, causing the heart pump to fail and cease to deliver life-sustaining blood, oxygen and nutrients. The person thus becomes unconscious. Death can occur just within minutes if the situation is not remedies.
The only chance of survival for a victim of sudden cardiac death is to re-start his or her heart by an electrical shock from a machine known as a defibrillator. There are few types of defibrillators, namely manual external defibrillators (MED), automatic external defibrillators (AED), and implantable defibrillators (ICD).
Only trained personnel such as doctors, nurses, or paramedics can operate MED whereas AED can be operated by lay persons with minimal training. These machines automatically recognized heart rhythms that are treatable by electrical shock, and prompt the user to press the shock button. The machines are easy to operate and have been used successfully in airports, casinos and other public places to resuscitate victims of cardiac arrest.
ICD is implanted into a persons body by surgery. It is fully automatic, and it can recognize and treat ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation without any external intervention, usually even before the person has lost consciousness.
In order to prevent sudden cardiac death, it is necessary to take a complete medical history, including a detailed family history of any cardiovascular disease, and carry out a thorough physical examination. If any symptom of heart disease, such as palpitations, fainting spells, chest pain, or breathlessness on physical exertion, is evident, and then further investigation that includes an electrocardiogram and echocardiogram is compulsory.
America's Most Trusted Doctor Reveals ... How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease - Without Drugs or Surgery. Read more about his confession at: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com/heart-disease-prevention-dr-robert-article.html
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