This Boosts Survival With Implanted Defibrillators
This Boosts Survival With Implanted Defibrillators
FRIDAY, May 15, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A new study of nearly 100,000 people with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators found that more physical activity was tied to living longer.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are battery-powered devices implanted in patients whose hearts cannot maintain a normal rhythm. The devices keep the heart beating normally and can provide a shock to return the heart to a normal rhythm when needed.
Researchers found that patients who were the most active during the first 30 to 60 days after getting their ICD were 40 percent less likely to die within four years compared to patients who were the least active.
"Patients with the highest level of activity had dramatically better long-term survival after four years -- about 90 percent -- than patients with the lowest activity level, whose four-year survival was only about 50 percent," said lead researcher Dr. Matthew Reynolds, a cardiologist at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass.
Although the researchers found a strong connection between activity and longer life in these patients, they wrote that this study can't prove cause-and-effect. It's possible that those who were more active were in better health, which could also lead to a longer life, they explained.
The report was published May 15 online in the Journal of the American Heart Association, to coincide with presentation of the study results at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, in Boston.
For the study, Reynolds and colleagues collected data on more than 98,000 patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators from across the United States. ICDs are inserted under the skin and electric wires are attached to the heart. In addition to their lifesaving task, ICDs also record patients' activity levels.
This information can be monitored remotely or in a doctor's office, Reynolds said. For this study, researchers analyzed patient activity in the first 30 to 60 days after implantation. They followed up on the patients' overall health for four years.
People in the study who had the highest activity level were active for about three hours a day. Those with the lowest activity level were active for about 30 minutes a day, he said.
This Boosts Survival With Implanted Defibrillators
FRIDAY, May 15, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- A new study of nearly 100,000 people with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators found that more physical activity was tied to living longer.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are battery-powered devices implanted in patients whose hearts cannot maintain a normal rhythm. The devices keep the heart beating normally and can provide a shock to return the heart to a normal rhythm when needed.
Researchers found that patients who were the most active during the first 30 to 60 days after getting their ICD were 40 percent less likely to die within four years compared to patients who were the least active.
"Patients with the highest level of activity had dramatically better long-term survival after four years -- about 90 percent -- than patients with the lowest activity level, whose four-year survival was only about 50 percent," said lead researcher Dr. Matthew Reynolds, a cardiologist at the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass.
Although the researchers found a strong connection between activity and longer life in these patients, they wrote that this study can't prove cause-and-effect. It's possible that those who were more active were in better health, which could also lead to a longer life, they explained.
The report was published May 15 online in the Journal of the American Heart Association, to coincide with presentation of the study results at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, in Boston.
For the study, Reynolds and colleagues collected data on more than 98,000 patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators from across the United States. ICDs are inserted under the skin and electric wires are attached to the heart. In addition to their lifesaving task, ICDs also record patients' activity levels.
This information can be monitored remotely or in a doctor's office, Reynolds said. For this study, researchers analyzed patient activity in the first 30 to 60 days after implantation. They followed up on the patients' overall health for four years.
People in the study who had the highest activity level were active for about three hours a day. Those with the lowest activity level were active for about 30 minutes a day, he said.
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