A new device may be the answer to deaths by severe heart failure, according to The New York Times. Researchers concluded on Sunday, 23 September that a “tiny clip” inserted in the heart has a good chance of fighting and reducing the number of deaths by problems of this kind. The device, called MitraClip, was made to make a valve regulate blood flow in and out of the heart, according to the report.
The study conducted trials on 614 patients in the US and Canada. All of them suffered from severe heart failure. The participants were randomly assigned one of the two modes of treatment - either a MitraClip with standard medical treatment, or only standard medical treatment.
The results were termed as “unexpectedly optimistic” by the media report. Dr Gilbert Tang, one of the doctors, whose patient was enrolled in the study, said the findings sent “a very, very powerful message”.
Out of those who received only medical treatment, 151 were hospitalised for heart failure in the following two years and 61 of them died. On the other hand, out of those who were given the clip, only 92 were hospitalised for the same condition and only 28 died.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, further points out that patients of this kind “avoided additional hospitalizations and described a drastically improved quality of life with fewer symptoms”.
India’s Struggle With Cardiovascular Problems
India has its own struggle going on with cardiovascular problems. Cardiovascular disease, is the leading cause of death worldwide as well as in India. When it comes to India, more than one quarter of all deaths in 2015 were caused by cardiovascular disease.
It caused more than 2·1 million deaths in India in 2015 at all ages, or more than a quarter of all deaths. At ages 30–69 years, of the 1·3 million cardiovascular deaths, 0·9 million (68·4 percent) were caused by ischaemic heart disease and 0·4 million (28·0 percent) by stroke.
Additionally, those born after 1970 have the highest rate of death due to heart problems caused by narrowing of the arteries, according to a Lancet study.
Indians get a heart attack 8-10 years earlier than any other ethnic group. Doctors have repeatedly insisted that we, as Indians, are predisposed to heart disease.
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