| Heart Failure Today: |
Heart failure (HF) is a progressive and debilitating disease that stems from the inability of the heart to provide sufficient blood flow to the body. HF affects more than five million people in the United States and 25 million people worldwide. The alarming growth rate — an estimated 550,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States alone — led the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to categorize heart failure as a new epidemic.(1,2) The economic burden imposed by this disease has reached more than $33 billion annually in the United States.(3)
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| Symptoms: |
As patients begin to develop HF symptoms, they may experience shortness of breath or become easily fatigued. They may also experience swelling due to water retention in the legs or abdomen, persistent cough, sleeping discomfort, loss of appetite and difficulty in performing basic tasks, such as climbing stairs or walking short distances.
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| Causes: |
Heart Failure is caused by a variety of conditions, including heart attacks, valvular disorders, uncontrolled high blood pressure or other cardiovascular abnormalities. The disease is characterized by an enlarged heart with a decreased ability to pump blood throughout the body. Heart failure progression causes structural and functional changes to the heart that are often described as “ventricular remodeling.”
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| Results: |
The heart’s natural response to impaired function is to work harder in order to pump blood. The excessive workload on the heart stresses the muscle walls and damages the muscular structure, eventually resulting in an unhealthy enlargement of the heart. In the body’s continuous attempt to supply the body with adequate blood, the stress on the heart continues to build in a degenerative cycle of muscle damage, which eventually results in end-stage HF or death.
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| At-Risk Groups: |
Within the age range of 50-90 years, HF prevalence nearly doubles with each decade. As baby-boomers age, the prevalence of HF will increase exponentially.(4) Recent statistics show that the lifetime risk and the overall prevalence rate of HF is similar in men and women. Populations particularly at risk for developing HF include people who are 65 years of age or older, are obese or have diabetes mellitus. The mortality rate is high — up to 50 percent of patients with advanced HF die within five years of diagnosis.(5)
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| Treatment: |
There is no known cure for HF. While different avenues for treatment exist, drug therapy currently is the standard of care to alleviate symptoms and slow HF progression. Although many advances have been made over the past decade, drugs — as well as other device therapies — have not demonstrated long-term effectiveness in preventing or reversing the disease.
The CorCap™ Cardiac Support Device (CSD) is a proprietary mesh wrap that is placed around the heart to provide gentle, permanent support. It is the first therapy designed to directly address the underlying cause of enlargement of the heart — ventricular wall stress — in order to prevent and reverse the progression of HF damage. The CorCap CSD is intended to improve the heart’s structure and function, leading to improvements in the quality of a patient’s life.
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