it's a wash then. just die when you're supposed to...

Now THAT'S irony, Alanis!

Sort of like how Lasik is for eyes/vision?

well i'll be damned...this has to be a first

/finally found that damn knife

Just kidding.

/...maybe.

"Bring out your dead...bring out your dead!"
"I'm not dead yet."
[SMACK]
"Bring out your dead."


\Haven't found an image host yet

My suggestion is to let old people die

ICDs are treatments, not cures... drugs have side effects too. i'm with Pope George Ringo.

Dick C disagrees.

All those in favor, explain.

All those not in favor, blame liberals.

Not really all that ironic (sorry to have to heil on everyone's parade). All the study seems to say is that people with implants have a heart that's usually going out. That seems more obvious than ironic.

So you're in between states? Like Schrodingers Cat? One bad look in yer direction and POW! Gone!
/Living dead
//Science imitaing hollywood?
///My spelling implant obviously from the same manufacturer

Not ironic, bad headline. All the article says is you still eventually die, cause you're heart's already farked.

duhliterate: \Haven't found an image host yet

I haven't had any complaints with photobucket

"Some patients whose lives were prolonged by ICDs were sicker and more prone to develop heart failure..."

Really? In other news, if you take caffine when you're tired, you will feel better temporarily, but in the end, you will be even more tired than when you started!

Seriously, if your heart is failing and you use a device to keep it going longer, it's still going to eventually fail.

Wow...

My cardiologist just recomended this ICD device to me. I no longer feel bad for basically telling her to fark off.

/only 28
//heart attacks sux
///my ejection fraction rate is 41%

Yikes, The_Advisor! I hope things get better for you.

Why would you need a defibrillator for your Cadillac?

The_Advisor
My cardiologist just recomended this ICD device to me. I no longer feel bad for basically telling her to fark off.

Maybe you (and submitter) should read the article.

"Some patients whose lives were prolonged by ICDs were sicker and more prone to develop heart failure," said Ilan Goldenberg, M.D., ... "The ICD kept them alive by preventing sudden cardiac death as their heart disease naturally progressed to heart failure.


The reason that people with ICDs are more likely to have heart failure is the ICDs *keep them alive* long enough that their heart gives out. Without the ICDs they would have died sooner, of a sudden heart attack. Because they did NOT die from that, their heart disease progressed worse and worse until they had heart failure.

It's the same reason that women in third world countries don't get osteoporosis as much as in first world countries -- it's strongly age dependent and the average lifespan in the third world is substantially shorter.

My cousin had an ICD. It popped off 8 times over 6 months. Saved her life repeatedly. Long enough for her to get her heart transplant last weekend.

Age: 28

This week, the FDA gave final approval to a device that prevents heart attacks by blasting the heart with a powerful jolt of electricity. If the device works properly, you will not have a heart attack. If it doesn't work properly, you will have a giant heart attack.

Don't knock these devices. I have a friend, Jaimie (might be reading this), who has one of these and she's only 23, she has one of these because she has a heart defect. It has saved/ extended her life. Don't be so quick to fark on technology that you know nothing about.

Don't knock these devices. I have a friend, Jaimie (might be reading this), who has one of these and she's only 23, she has one of these because she has a heart defect. It has saved/ extended her life. Don't be so quick to fark on technology that you know nothing about.

I was born with a heart defect, and had successful surgery when I was about 18 months old. At 18 years of age, I started feeling palpatations. These were caused by the scar tissue from the previous surgery, so I had an ICD implanted. I'm now 25 and have now had the ICD for 7 years.

If a doctor ever recommends that you get an ICD...DO IT!

What they didn't really mention in the article is that just because a patient gets an ICD doesn't mean that they are completely fixed. They have to follow a cardiac diet, exercise and take their meds. Most ICDs now can also resynch, which makes both ventricles fire at once - which doesn't happen in severe cases of heart failure. These devices will also be much more successful in young people, as several of you have noted.

There is a huge push to get more of these things implanted. They can, and most of the time do, work great if the patient takes good care of themselves. I have seen where a comatose patient with no chance of recovery got an ICD. The family just isn't ready for them to die. So, of course the numbers will be off. And, with any surgery there is a chance for infection and other complications.

Like I tell my patients, having an ICD is like having an ambulance crew with you at all times.

/Also, stay 12 inches away from slot machines if you have one!

There is a whole area of litigation regarding these devices because they are malfunctioning and "shocking" the heart at the wrong levels or at the wrong times.

If you are looking into ICDs make sure you check out which manufacturers are having the problems.

These devices will also be much more successful in young people, as several of you have noted.

Yep. Every case is different, but I have to say (knock on wood), that I am very happy.

I go outside and shoot hoops with my neighbors (one is a basketball coach), and they didn't even know I had the device until I told them.

I don't have the stamina I had in high school (partly because I don't want to work my heart rate close to 188, which is where I'll get zapped), but I have better stamina, and can do more things than I could 7 years ago when the device was implanted.

However, I've also never received a "shock" from my device, at least not a big one (only a couple small pacing)...so I think the physical improvement is probably more due to the meds (100mg of atenolol per day).

In about a year it will be time for another device. I absolutely hate surgery, so I'm not looking forward to it. But on the bright side, the replacement surgery is less complicated than the first. They use the same leads, just replace the device itself. The Medtronic rep also said my new device would be smaller than the current one I have, so that's cool.

JKulp42757

Yeah, the new ones are waaayyyy smaller. And better in every way.
Good luck.

Yeah, the new ones are waaayyyy smaller. And better in every way.
Good luck.

Thanks :-)

Dynascape

Really scary about these things.. My stepdad had one.
I know this is anecdotal evidence, but the thing nearly killed him.

The first time they implanted one, it became infected, and the infection surrounded his heart. They had to give him massive antibiotics or he would have died.

Indeed, infection is a problem with ANY implanted device, from a pacemaker to an ICD to an artificial hip. The reduced blood supply in the area and the hard, artificial surface make infections much stronger and harder to beat than normal.

He's also suppoused to stay away from magnets. We were once on the patio, and he had a few speakers next to the door. He got too close, and apparently the magnets in the speakers started setting the machine off. You can actually hear a audible *Beep* *beep* when its preparing to discharge the shock. He freaked the fark out, and got as far away from the speakers as possible. Luckily, it didnt go off. Coupled with the fact the surgery and device cost us 100,000 Dollars.

Ironically, they've had to replace it twice. The first time, he asked for the defibrulator back, and the doctor went so far as to have my stepdads initials engraved onto it as a keepsake. Kind of cool, kind of terrifying.

If they are replacing it, I assume it's because the batteries are dying (the most common reason to replace)? In that case, if even one of those stimuli saved his life I bet he'd say it was worth it.