Welcome to the new work-week and to The Heart Beat!
Each day, we at the American Heart Association in central Alabama use this space to provide news and information you can use to live a healthier, happier and longer life. Our Monday tradition is to call attention to three health-related news stories you may have missed last week:
Riding in an ambulance can be really expensive. That's the takeaway from this New York Times article, which says that rising costs for the service are contributing to our nation's high medical bills. The story relays the experience of one woman who was billed 0 for a two-block ride. (The ride included no actual medical treatment.)
The high costs are due in part to the fact that many ambulance services operate as private businesses and are not affiliated with local governments or hospitals.
Another shocking nugget: Often, an additional charge is added if someone (like a friend or family member) rides in the ambulance with you. Sometimes, that charge can add up to hundreds of dollars.
We're sticking with the Old Grey Lady for another story...this one is about the benefits of walking. Brisk walking, that is.
While walking at any pace is better than not walking at all, the ideal pace to reap health benefits is at least 15 to 16 minutes per mile. You need to maintain that pace for 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.
If you read the story all the way to the bottom and you should you'll see mortality data that indicates slow walkers perish sooner than fast walkers. So, pick up the pace on your next walk!
"What's this about a mechanical heart made out of metal?" (Wikimedia Commons)If your heart was failing rapidly and you were awaiting a transplant, then you might be a candidate for a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)...essentially, an internal pump attached to your existing heart to help it pump blood more effectively.
More than 20,000 LVADs have been implanted, with the most famous recent recipient being former Vice President Dick Cheney.
However, Drs. Billy Cohn and Bud Frazier are building on this idea of a partially mechanical heart. They, along with biomedical engineer Daniel Timms, are working to build an implantable, artificial heart that is more than just a temporary bridge to get patients to a transplant...it would be the transplant.
To further blow your mind, the mechanical hearts they've built operate with barely a sound...no heartbeat.
Prototypes have already been successfully implanted in animals, but it will be several years before the device is set to be submitted to the FDA for approval.
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