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Pay attention to your heart

Sunday, March 18, 2007

(New York - WABC, March 18, 2007) (WABC) -- Dr. Bindi Shah of Weill Cornell Medical College joins Eyewitness News to talk about sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and how it differs from heart attacks, recent survey results, who is at risk and what you can do.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR HEART
Many people confuse Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) with a heart attack; what you need to know about a leading cause of death (it is fatal 95% of the time), what the risk factors are and what you can do if you are at risk

Preliminary findings from a new national survey, conducted by Lightspeed, reveal that 54% of Americans are unfamiliar with Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and 41% have never heard of an ICD - an implantable cardioverter defibrillator -- which has been referred to as "an emergency room in the chest."

OTHER STARTLING INFO:

SCA is almost always fatal. It will kill more people this year than breast cancer, lung cancer and AIDS combined - nearly 1,000 Americans each day.

Many of those deaths from SCA - an estimated one-third - may be prevented by a stopwatch-sized device called an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator).

Approximately 850,000 patients at proven risk for SCA remain unprotected by an ICD and less than 35% of patients indicated for an ICD have one.

About Sudden Cardiac Arrest:

Sudden cardiac arrest is a sudden, abrupt loss of heart function. Most SCA episodes are caused by the rapid and/or chaotic activity of the heart known as ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF).

Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack is a malfunction caused by blockage in a vessel that supplies blood to the heart, which may permanently damage part of the heart.

Unlike SCA, most people survive a first heart attack.

SCA is an "electrical" malfunction of the heart that results in no blood flow to the body or the brain.

Sudden cardiac arrest is 95 percent fatal if left untreated.

ICDs are highly reliable and are proven to be 98 percent effective in treating dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to SCA

Visit hearthelp.com for more information.

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