Nov. 24--A non-invasive treatment that, when used properly, could replace the drugs and surgeries currently used to treat cardiovascular disease will be the highlight of an upcoming free event at the CrownPointe Senior Living Community.
Two separate seminars at CrownPointe, one beginning at 3:30 p.m. and the other at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, will be led by Arthur Potter, the director of operations at the Adkins Medical Group in Indianapolis, and patient Gregory Dupuis. At the meetings, the two will address the benefits of "Enhanced External CounterPulsation."
According to Potter, the technology for the treatment was developed about 45 years ago at the Harvard Medical School and is being offered by the country's biggest heart institutes. However, knowledge of the treatment is way behind, Potter said.
"Still, if you asked 100 people here in Greensburg about it, they wouldn't have a clue," Potter explained. According to the American Heart Association, more than 1.7 million invasive procedures are performed each year. Of those, more than 1.2 million angioplasties and stent placements are performed annually. However, despite the millions of procedures each year to fix blockages, heart attacks continue to occur. Many of the bypass surgery patients will require repeat procedures within a few years, Potter noted.
"Fifty-two percent of all stented patients will be back in the hospital to be re-stented later," Potter said.
The treatment, also called "External CounterPulsation," or ECP, is an external heart and circulatory assistant that helps the heart heal itself. According to Potter, ECP works like this: the patient takes the treatment one hour per day, five days a week for seven consecutive weeks. The patient lies on a special bed and the technician wraps the patient's lower extremities from ankles to waist in ECP cuffs. The patient's heartbeat, monitored by a computer, makes the ECP machine operate. When the heart beats, the ECP cuffs relax and when the heart rests, the cuffs inflate and gently squeeze the legs. The alternating pressure and release is said to enhance the natural serum of blood to the heart. When it works, the ECP process increases the heart's oxygen and nutrient supply, reducing the heart's oxygen demand and workload, making the heart's job exponentially easier.
"If the heart were healthier, it would do it anyway," Potter explained. "It's not about the heart at all, it's about blood flow."
Patient Gregory Dupuis has had the treatment, undergoing treatment number 32 of 35. He had underwent a triple bypass heart operation four months ago and was treated afterwards using CounterPulsation. Potter noted that if Dupuis had avoid surgery and used CounterPulsation from the beginning, it would have saved him tens of thousands of dollars.
Using CounterPulsation also wards off the side effects that are common after invasive heart surgery, Potter said.
The two free seminars at CrownPointe on Dec. 1 are open to the public and free to everyone.
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