February 17, 2008

New Medical Treatment for Heart Attacks

It is assumed that if a person is not revived 5 minutes after having cardiac arrest that they are basically dead. Researchers have found that if the body of a person that had cardiac arrest is cooled by several degrees after the heart has stopped beating, the person could survive for up to 15 minutes instead of 5 minutes. Doctors are starting to use cooling blankets that circulate icy water to reduce brain damage and revive people that didn’t have a heart beat for up to 15 minutes. Researchers are trying to develop icy injectable slurry that lowers body temperature within seconds and emergency workers can use it on the spot.

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