Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009 - (Page 6)

helping three new treatments help heart patients in southern colorado ardiovascular disease continues to be the No. 1 killer of Americans, claiming more than 870,000 lives each year. Preventing and treating heart disease—and the problems that result from it, including cardiac arrest and heart attacks—is a major focus for the cardiac care teams at Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center and St. Thomas More Hospital. Together, these Centura Health teams provided more than 5,000 cardiac treatments last year. Physicians at these hospitals are continually on the leading edge nationally to bring new technology and treatments to patients in Southern Colorado. C hearts by michele conklin body temperature slows the metabolic process of the brain and lets it recover before it’s expected to work hard.” The American Heart Association recommended the use of therapeutic hypothermia for cardiac arrest patients in 2002. But hospitals have been slow to adopt the procedure because of the complexity of administering it. More organizations have been considering it, however, as evidence of its success continues to mount. Earlier this year, New York City began requiring city ambulances to take cardiac patients to hospitals that use therapeutic hypothermia, bypassing closer hospitals if necessary. Who should consider this? Cooling therapy should only be provided by medical professionals. If you witness a person collapse because his or her heart has stopped, you should call 911 and use an automated external defibrillator or CPR to try to restart the heart. More information: To learn more about portable defibrillators, go to centura.org and click “Jumpstart a Heart.” chilly treatment for heart patients hen David Smith collapsed last year from cardiac arrest, his chances of recovering without any brain damage were slim. Yet, four days later, the 32-year-old Rye man walked out of St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center “as normal as can be,” says Kevin Weber, M.D., medical director of emergency services at the hospital. The secret? A chilly hospital reception. Paramedics restarted Smith’s heart at his home and then rushed him to the emergency room. Once there, Weber and his team began cooling Smith’s body temperature with ice packets, cooling blankets and eventually a catheter system that inflates balloons of cooled water into vessels that in turn cool the blood flowing over them. Doctors kept Smith sedated and his temperature lowered to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit from its normal 98.6 for two days. “When the brain has gone without oxygen, it doesn’t instantly start working properly once you restore blood flow,” Weber explains. “Cooling the one W 6 vim & vigor • su mme r 2 009 http://www.centura.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009
Healthy Steps
Nurturing Health
Contents
Finally... Relief from Pain
Helping Hearts
Take Action
Check Your Tech
Small Wonders
Positively Healthy
On the Cover
Culinary Cures
In a Heartbeat
Make it Last
Safe Harbor
5 Million Lives
Under the Cyberknife
Around the Region
Ask the Experts
Community Connections

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