The Gift of Life

How tragic for a child’s parent or grandparent to be snatched away by sudden cardiac death (SCD). An exciting study in the December 16, 1999 New England Journal of Medicine offered good news. Until now, well over a quarter million people each year have died from SCD in the United States alone. In this NIH study, conducted jointly in 85 medical centers, there was an almost 75% reduction in sudden deaths in people at high risk!

The breakthrough? The use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs)! These life-saving devices detect abnormal heart rhythms and treat the victim automatically. Anyone who has had a heart attack or who has coronary artery disease should know about this revolutionary development.