X-Message-Number: 22155
From: randy <>
Subject: chilling heart attack victims helps prevent brain damage
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 20:32:01 -0500
References: <>

chilling heart attack victims help recovery


Excerpts:


Putting patients on ice after they suffer cardiac arrest helps to
prevent brain damage caused by the drop in blood circulation, an
international team of researchers reported Monday. 

Cardiac arrest -- the trembling heart malfunction that can be reversed
using a defibrillator -- can not only kill but it can leave a survivor
with dead brain cells. 

Two studies published in the journal Circulation show that cooling the
body temperature to below the normal 98.6 degrees F can help prevent
that damage. 

A mild reduction in body temperature, to between 89.6 degrees F and
93.2 degrees F , lasting 12 to 24 hours, is needed, said Dr. Jerry
Nolan, who helped lead the International Liaison Committee on
Resuscitation's Advanced Life Support Task Force. 

Nolan, of Royal United Hospital in Bath, Britain and colleagues used a
special mattress with a cover that blew air over the body and ice bags
to cool patients for 24 hours after they arrived at the hospital. 

In an Australian study, paramedics put ice packs against the heads and
torsos of patients. 

Those patients who were cooled suffered less brain damage, both teams
found. 

...


"What is so exciting about these new studies is that they showed that
even if we cooled the brain after the oxygen supply had been cut off,
people did better," Nolan said in a statement released by the American
Heart Association, which publishes Circulation. 

....


http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/health/07WIRE-HEART.html?hp








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-Randy

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