Their EFs increased from an average pre-treatment score of 29 percent to as high as 45 percent post-therapy. The patients with the poorest EF before treatment-less than 35 percent-had the greatest improvements. In another recent study, researchers evaluated the echocardiograms of 505 patients with heart disease performed before they started a 35-hour course of EECP and again within a week after completing treatment. A robust heart muscle ejects about half of its volume as it contracts, so a normal EF is 50 to 60 percent. One piece of info gleaned from an echocardiogram is ejection fraction (EF), a measure of the percentage of blood volume pumped out with each beat of the heart. Patients with this condition have a poor prognosis-fewer than half are still alive five years after diagnosis.Īn excellent noninvasive test for evaluating heart function is the echocardiogram, which uses sound waves to visualize the heart’s chambers, valves, overall size, and movement. Fluid collects in the legs, breathing becomes labored, and energy goes down the drain. Whether it’s caused by a heart attack, virus, hypertension, or toxins, the heart eventually loses its ability to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Heart failure is a progressive weakening of the heart muscle. Among the patients who completed an entire EECP course, 85 percent reported less angina, 4.1 percent had heart attacks, and only 4.1 percent died.Īnother condition that benefits from EECP is heart failure. One year after treatment, 25 percent of the “noncompleters” had improvements in angina, 7.7 percent had had heart attacks, and 14.1 percent had died. (This was about 14 percent of the total.) The differences were striking. The researchers studied the outcomes of the patients who had finished their entire course of 35 EECP treatments and compared them with a control group of patients who had dropped out after an average of 13 treatments. Nine out of 10 had already had angioplasty or bypass surgery, and seven out of 10 had suffered heart attacks. Researchers from Stony Brook University in New York evaluated the records of 4,597 patients with end-stage heart disease who had undergone EECP. It also saves lives, according to a study presented at a recent American College of Cardiology meeting. When patients with angina undergo a full course of 35 one-hour treatments, they often say goodbye to chest pain and are able to avoid angioplasty-and even bypass surgery.ĮECP does more than improve symptoms of serious heart disease. What is truly remarkable are EECP’s long-term benefits. It’s not surprising that EECP increases blood flow throughout the body during treatment-all that squeezing dramatically boosts circulation. But let me tell you, this is powerful stuff. Once treatment begins, the cuffs sequentially inflate and deflate in sync with your heartbeat, and your legs are rapidly and rhythmically squeezed from bottom to top. You’re also hooked up to a heart monitor. You lie on a table and compression cuffs are strapped around your legs, from ankles to thighs. I’ve written quite a few articles about enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) over the years, but the results of several new studies-plus the remarkable improvements I see every week in Whitaker Wellness patients-have inspired me to revisit this often-overlooked therapy.įirst, let me explain how EECP works. Get Pumped Up With EECP Get Pumped Up With EECP
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