I am not sure I agree with this!
A recent study based on outcomes rather than care home managers `considerations` suggested that the elderly who were successfully resuscitated could go on to have a reasonable quality of life afterwards, the outcome was not as gloomy as one might think. See link below! Lets not `write them off too soon`
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/smh-cg050113.php
Dr. Orkin said his study suggests that “push hard, push fast” might be better refined to “push hard, push fast, if you’re downtown.Rural communities might need different CPR recommendations to urban settings,” he said.
Nearly half of the world’s population live in rural areas. Even in the most developed and densely populated cities, people can wait longer than 10 or 15 minutes for ambulance services
“If someone is unresponsive, doing any kind of CPR is clearly better than doing nothing,” said Dr. Orkin. “But shouldn’t CPR guidelines serve everybody, not just people who live a few minutes from an ambulance dispatch station or hospital?
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/782669?nlid=30898_325&src=wnl_edit_medp_card&uac=81911MR&spon=2
Awareness of the symptoms of heart disease has also improved, including the knowledge that a heart attack isn’t just chest pain — or, as I call it, the “Hollywood heart attack.” In women, a heart attack could be signalled by discomfort, feelings of pressure, heartburn, or discomfort extending to the jaw, neck, or back. We need to keep reminding the public of these atypical symptoms.
We have to get these messages out there, and we need innovative ways to get them to black and Hispanic women, in their own communities and languages, and help them understand the importance of these concepts. It will save lives.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cold-blooded-hearts-thumping.html
Things stay fresh longer when refrigerated. That goes for lettuce as well as humans – especially when the body is not provided with an adequate supply of oxygen. This occurs following sudden cardiac arrest, which has a survival rate of less than ten percent. Cooling to 33 degrees Celsius – known as mild hypothermia – is actually the only effective therapy for improving the survival rates of these patients. A team of researchers from the Medical University of Vienna will now investigate how to improve hypothermic treatment when using it in combination with invasive resuscitation procedures.
It really can happen to anyone, anywhere and at anytime. Sudden cardiac arrest can be triggered by the simplest things……….. such as dancing!
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2013-03-25a.379.0
Finally some top level discussion about the value of defibrillators in public places and in particular schools, whether ECG screening of all young people is worthwhile and legislation should be passed to make things mandatory.
Findings suggest that vertex baldness is more closely associated with systemic atherosclerosis than frontal baldness. Thus, cardiovascular risk factors should be reviewed carefully in men with vertex baldness, especially younger men, and they should be encouraged to improve their cardiovascular risk profile.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/781592?nlid=29723_1048&src=wnl_edit_dail
So exercise regularily, drink moderately and stay happy to maintain a healthy heart!
Adults who have stroke at age 18 to 50 years remain at significantly higher risk for premature death for the next 10 to 20 years, and probably for life, compared with the general population, a Dutch study suggests. The 20-year mortality was almost four times higher in yuoung stroke population compared with the general population.
Just seven per cent of construction companies are equipped with potentially life-saving defibrillators – and in many cases even those that have invested in them have essentially bought a “wall ornament” because their employees do not know they should be used.Furthermore, almost a third (30 per cent) said that they would not use a defibrillator under any circumstances. Over half (58 per cent) were worried about accidentally electrocuting someone who did not need a defibrillator or being held liable if something went wrong.
Frightening statistics and terribly sad. More availability and better trainiong, even just letting them know AED`s are completely safe to use.