There are about 30,000 people world -wide with other peoples' hearts pumping in them.
Without a defibrillator, 9 out of 10 victims of ventricular tachycardia ( rapid heartbeat) die. In the U.S., 350,000 folks a year suffer sudden heart attack death.
The March 2000 Popular Mechanics says that you have a stastistically better chance of surviving a heart attack in a casino or airplane than a hospital, according to findings presented to the AHA by the Medical College of Virginia.A reason, they said, is the lack of the automated defibrillators EMS crews use.In hospitals, time is lost waiting for crash carts and doctors.
U.S. cardiac surgery units are required to perform at least 250 open-heart opeations a year. To lure patients, new hospitals must establish low mortality rates. Some U.S. clinics offer discount surgery to Latin Americans to bring in the first customers.
Cardiomyopathy means enlarged heart muscle. The heart pumps harder to meet the demands of the larger muscle and wears out quickly. It becomes inefficient and the organs literally starve from lack of oxygen. Half its victims die suddenly and half become waterlogged and die a slow bloated hospital death. There are 3 kinds--peripartum is always also dilated or non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. It happens during labor, to about one of every 10,000 women. --why, is still unknown. It could be a hidden condition, caused previously by a viral injury, aggravated by the demands of pregnancy--which are fierce: during pregnancy, a woman's blood volume is four times greater than before. It could also be an autoimmune disease.
