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Jo Ann LeQuang's Articles in Medical Equipment

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Are Defibrillators Worth the Cost to the Healthcare System? ICDs or implantable defibrillators save lives but are expensive therapy. They are sometimes challenged for cost effectiveness, but studies support that ICD therapy is indeed cost effective. The biggest challenge is getting people who could benefit from ICDs to realize they might need one. Three out of four people who could get life-saving benefits from an ICD do not have one! The Three Biggest Mistakes People Make When Considering Getting a Pacemaker If you are suddenly confronted with the decision to get a pacemaker ... what should you do? While any medical decision can be harrowing, there are three specific pitfalls to making the choice about getting a pacemaker. Learn what they are and how to avoid them in this easy-to-understand article. Your New Life with a Pacemaker (or Defibrillator) If you or a loved one just got a new pacemaker or defibrillator, it may seem like you've got a big adjustment ahead of you. Actually, things may be much more normal than you imagined. Getting used to life with a pacemaker or defibrillator won't take long! Myths About Pacemakers If you've been told you need a pacemaker, it does not mean you are at increased risk for a heart attack. In fact, pacemakers are implanted to treat an irregular heart rhythm which actually has nothing to do with a heart attack. Irregular heart rhythms, or arrhythmias, can often be successfully treated with a pacemaker. Why Doctors Don't Like to Talk about Pacemaker Recalls A recent meeting of arrhythmia and pacemaker specialists has addressed the issue of pacemaker safety and, in part, recommended that the FDA, regulatory agencies, and physicians stop using the word "recall" and instead substitute "safety advisory." While this may seem like semantics to you, the real core is how to manage the delicate problem of mechanical trouble in implantable devices. Defibrillators Shock a Runaway Heart Back to Normal Defibrillators are devices that use a large jolt of energy to reset the heart during episodes of sudden cardiac arrest. External defibrillators use paddles to shock the heart rhythm through the chest, but there are also implantable defibrillators which operate constantly, beat by beat of the heart, to defibrillate the heart instantly if it is required. Here is how and why defibrillators do what they do. Happy Birthday, Pacemaker! Implantable Heart Technology Turns 50 Pacemakers may seem like brand-new technology but they've been around for 50 years this year! In that time, the pacemaker has undergone a lot of changes, from a large, clunky, short-lived, basic, battery-powered device to today's small mini-computers that can be implanted in day surgery. If you or a loved one need a pacemaker, you'll be joining the millions of people all over the world who have benefited from this remarkable therapy. What People with Arrhythmias Must Know about Pacemakers Pacemakers have been around for 50 years and are considered safe and effective treatment for many forms of arrhythmia. Yet when a person finds out he or she (or a family member or friend) needs to get a pacemaker, there is not a great deal of information available about this procedure, which has benefited literally millions of people around the world. Here are some facts.