Heart health The practice of lowering body temperature to help prevent tissue damage has been used for centuries. Way back in Hippocrates’ time, from 460 to 370 BC, soldiers were advised to pack wounds with ice and snow to help prevent more serious damage.
More recently, it has also been common practice for patients suffering with severe head injuries – from a car accident, for example. It has helped to reduce the risk of injury to the brain tissue – something that can mean the difference between a meaningful life and a coma. New research from the Mayo Clinic confirms that the method, called therapeutic hypothermia, is also effective for patients who have suffered a heart attack.
During therapeutic hypothermia the body is cooled to 33 degrees Celsius using a specially designed blanket or vest that brings the temperature down or by means of a catheter feeding cooled saline solution directly into a vein. The brain’s processing is slowed down and this helps protect against damage that occurs when there’s a lack of blood flow, and therefore, of oxygen. When a person suffers a heart attack there is reduced blood flow and it’s this that causes the most problems if they’re resuscitated; because if the brain is damaged, the patient may not be able to speak or move in the same way as before.
The researchers looked at data of 192 heart attack patients, around half of whom had had therapeutic hypothermia. Of those who had had the therapy, two thirds were fully responsive and therefore able to leave hospital. This potentially indicates little or no permanent debilitating brain damage often associated with heart attacks or strokes.
First published February 24, 2011