Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Contents
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Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 3.0.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Thank you.
Disclaimer
The information provided on this ebook should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction. No
action should be taken based solely on the contents of this report.
Readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well being.
The information and opinions provided here are believed to be accurate and sound, based on the best
judgment available to the authors, but readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the
risk of any injuries. This ebook is not responsible for errors or omissions.
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These shocking statistics goes largely unnoticed in the public eye, but if
you or a loved one suffers from this terrible condition you know all to
well the pain and frustration that comes along with this illness.
As we learn more about heart diseases, we also learn about the steps we
can take to help keep our hearts healthy. Whether or not you've managed
to keep your New Year's resolutions, taken a decision to keep your heart
healthy, or had developed a plan to return your heart to good health,This
ebook offers insights to start healthy heart management at home.
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Arrhythmia
Arrhythmias (or dysrhythmias) are problems that affect the electrical
system of the heart muscle, producing abnormal heart rhythms. They can
cause the heart to pump less effectively.
The heart has four chambers. The top two are the atria, and the lower two
are the ventricles. Normally the heartbeat starts in the right atrium when
a special group of cells sends an electrical signal. (These cells are called
the sinoatrial or SA node, the sinus node or the heart’s “pacemaker.”)
This signal spreads throughout the atria and to the atrioventricular (A-V)
node. The A-V node connects to a group of fibers in the ventricles that
conduct the electrical signal. The impulse travels down these specialized
fibers (the His-Purkinje system) to all parts of the ventricles. The
electrical signal must follow this exact route for the heart to pump
properly.
Under some conditions almost all heart tissue can start a heartbeat. In
other words, another part of the heart can become the pacemaker.
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An arrhythmia occurs…
* when the heart’s natural pacemaker develops an abnormal rate or
rhythm.
* when the normal conduction pathway is interrupted.
* when another part of the heart takes over as pacemaker.
The heart contracts (beats) as the electrical impulse moves through it.
This normally occurs 60 to 80 times a minute when a person is at rest.
The atria contract a split-second before the ventricles. This lets the atria
to empty their blood into the ventricles before the ventricles contract.
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Atrial Fibrillation
What is atrial fibrillation (AF)?
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The actual cause is when the the electrical signal which coordinates the
heart is disrupted or not passing across the heart as it needs to in order
to trigger the contraction of the muscles. Disruption is frequently caused
by the electrical signal being drowned out by electrical impulses
generated elsewhere by the atria. This creates the arrhythmia or irregular
heartbeat and an episode may last for a few moments or for an extended
period of time, sometimes for years until it is detected by healthcare
professionals.
A-fib is not usually life threatening but a range of symptoms may present
themselves and are not generally pleasant - fainting, palpitations, pain in
the chest or more seriously, congestive heart failure. Having atrial
fibrillation will lead to a higher risk for other illnesses such as strokes
due to blood clots forming from the blood which pools in the atrium
because of infective pumping into the ventricle.
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Medications are used to slow down rapid heart rate associated with AF.
These treatments may include drugs such as digoxin, beta blockers
(atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol), amiodarone, disopyramide, calcium
antagonists (verapamil, diltiazam), sotalol, flecainide, procainamide,
quinidine, propafenone, etc.
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Atrial pacemakers can be implanted under the skin to regulate the heart
rhythm.
American Heart Association Recommendation for Stroke Prevention
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Warfarin is the anticoagulant now used for this purpose, and aspirin is
the anti platelet drug most often used.Long-term use of warfarin in
patients with AF and other stroke risk factors can reduce stroke by 68
percent.
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Stroke
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About 80% of strokes are due to an ischemic event, while the others are
classified as hemorrhagic strokes.
Because stroke injures the brain, you may not realize that you are having
a stroke. To a bystander, someone having a stroke may just look unaware
or confused. Stroke victims have the best chance if someone around them
recognizes the symptoms and acts quickly.
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Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease
(with which it is closely linked) and cancer.
About 500,000 of these are first attacks, and 200,000 are recurrent
attacks.
More than 4 million people in the United States have survived a stroke
or brain attack and are living with the after-effects.
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Four out of five families will be somehow affected by stroke over the
course of a lifetime.
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•22 percent of men and 25 percent of women die within a year of their
first stroke.
The total cost of stroke to the United States is estimated at $43 billion
per year.
The direct costs of medical care and therapy are estimated at $28
billion per year.
Indirect costs from lost productivity and other factors are estimated at
$15 million per year.
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For 10 percent of patients, the cost of care for the first 90 days after a
stroke is $35,000.
These facts about heart disease and stroke are to scare you or shock you,
But they are real and you must be aware of them if you want to keep
yourself and your family safe from these two deadly killers.
While both of these diseases are out there, we can follow simple steps to
prevent them from occurring. There are solutions to these problems, so
with a few changes in our daily habits we can protect ourselves.
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There are several risk factors for heart disease (heart attack and stroke)
that you can control or that can be treated: high cholesterol, high blood
pressure, smoking, inadequate exercise, obesity, and diabetes. These risk
factors are all interrelated.
High cholesterol has no symptoms unless you have the results of a blood
test to measure both LDL ("bad" cholesterol) and HDL ("good"
cholesterol).
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Find out what your cholesterol levels are and work with your healthcare
professional to lower them if necessary. A diet low in saturated fats, trans
fats, and cholesterol is usually recommended. Exercise also helps, but
some may need medication to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.
High blood pressure also has no symptoms which has earned it the name
"Silent Killer". It makes your heart work harder which makes both your
heart and your arteries susceptible to injury and/or disease.
If you are 20 or more pounds overweight, you are more likely to have
high blood pressure than someone with a healthy weight for their age
and height. In your periodic visits to your healthcare professional, it is a
good practice for them to take your blood pressure, regardless of the
reason you are visiting.
You can also get your blood pressure taken at most pharmacies and
senior citizen centers. Ask for the numbers and see if they fall within the
norms set by the American Heart Association for healthy blood pressure
(120/80 mm Hg). If your blood pressure is high, work with your
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Smoking is another factor that can be controlled. Think about not only
the cigarettes or cigars that you smoke, but also the second hand smoke
from others that also increases your risk. The good news is that research
shows us that when you stop smoking, no matter how long you have
smoked your risk for heart attack and stroke begins to drop. Risk is cut in
half after one year without smoking, and continues to drop until it is as
low as a non-smoker.
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There are risk factors that we cannot control and that we need to be
aware of. Specifically, we cannot control our age, gender, family history
and race. As we get older, the risk to develop heart attack or stroke. Men
have a greater risk of heart attack than women, and they have them at a
younger age. Women who are pregnant, take birth control pills and
smoke, or have high blood pressure have a higher risk of stroke.
If any of your family members had history of heart attacks or stroke, you
may be at risk, too. Heart disease risks are higher among Mexican
Americans, American Indians, and native Hawaiians, due in part to higher
rates of obesity and diabetes. African Americans have a higher risk than
Caucasians.
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Early Diagnosis
In the case of heart disease and stroke getting an early diagnosis is vital
to dealing with the disease and will greatly increase the chances for you
to experience a speedy recovery.
The first thing that you can do to ensure help secure an early diagnosis of
heart disease is to make frequent visits to your healthcare professional.
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You know your body better than anyone else, and if something isn't right
you need to be checked out.
Don't be afraid to seek the advice and services of your family doctor or
your local healthcare professional. Be sure to remember the symptoms of
these diseases so that if you begin to experience them take it very
seriously.
The media is littered with stories of people who could have been saved if
they only had went to the doctor when the symptoms started to appear.
If you hear a loved one or your spouse complaining of similar symptoms
please urge them to go to the doctor, as you could literally be saving
their life.
The second thing that you must do in order to remain on top of your
heart health is monitor your heart beat through an ECG/EKG machine.
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The ECG machine can help you monitor your heart's health closely and
accurately. Moreover, this medical tool can also diagnose cases of early
onsets and prevent heart diseases altogether.
The main problem with most of the ECG machines available today are:
They come with so many leads and wires that it can be quite confusing to
you just how to hook yourself up to the machine and obtain an accurate
reading.
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May be intimidating
“An electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a medical diagnostic device which graphically records
the electrical activity of the muscles of the heart. It is used to identify normal and abnormal
heartbeats. First invented in the early 1900s, the ECG or EKG (derived from the German
electrokardiogramma) has become an important tool for diagnosis of abnormal heart rhythms.”
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A Display of the ECG/EKG recording on the screen of the instrument. B.Display of ECG/EKG Rhythm on a printed paper.
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Although humans have one heart, from a functional point of view we can think
of two pumps in series connected by the pulmonary and systemic circulations,
the left heart and the right heart. Each of these “hearts” is further divided into
two chambers. So the heart has four chambers in total, left and right atrium, as
well as left and right ventricle. Atria, the pre-chambers, mainly function as the
helpers of the ventricles by filling them with more blood before their
contraction. The function of the right side of the heart is to collect de-
oxygenated blood, in the right atrium, from the body and pump it, via the
right ventricle, into the lungs (pulmonary circulation) so that carbon dioxide
can be dropped off and oxygen picked up (gas exchange). The left side
collects oxygenated blood from the lungs into the left atrium. From the left
atrium the blood moves to the left ventricle which pumps it out to the body.
On both sides, the lower ventricles are thicker and stronger than the upper
atria, since they produce the greatest part of the force needed to pump the
blood. The muscle wall surrounding the left ventricle is thicker than the wall
surrounding the right ventricle due to the higher force needed to pump the
blood through the systemic circulation.
Normal conduction pathway in the heart starts in the SA node, located in the wall of the right atrium, because this is where the normal
rhythmical impulse is generated and is then conducted to the atrioventricular (AV) node by the internodal pathways. From here the AV
bundle conducts the impulse from the atria into the ventricles where the left and right bundle branches of so called Purkinje fibers
conduct the cardiac impulse to all parts of the ventricles. Impulses are also conducted by the atrial and ventricular muscle fibers, the
only difference is in the speed of conduction which is much slower in this case than in the case of specialized conductive muscle
fibers. Another important thing to mention when we talk about impulse conduction is its slowing in the AV node. When the impulse is
generated in the SA node, it spreads through both right and left atrium via the atrial muscle and some conductive muscle fibers, and
atria simultaneously contract. But they do this just a fraction of a second before ventricles, because the impulse hasn’t yet spread
through them since the AV node delayed it for about 0.13 seconds. This delay is important because it allows time for the atria to empty
their blood into the ventricles before ventricular contraction begins, thus allowing for more blood to be pumped out.
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ECG Waves
P wave: During normal atrial depolarization, the main electrical vector is directed from the SA node towards the AV node, and spreads
from the right atrium to the left atrium. This turns into the P wave on the ECG. Duration :80ms
PR segment: The PR segment connects the P wave and the QRS complex.Duration:150 to 200ms
QRS complex :The QRS complex is a recording of a single heartbeat on the ECG that corresponds to the depolarization of the right
and left ventricles.70 to 110ms
ST segment:The ST segment connects the QRS complex and the T wave.80 to 120ms
T wave: The T wave represents the repolarization (or recovery) of the ventricles. The interval from the beginning of the QRS complex
to the apex of the T wave is referred to as the absolute refractory period. The last half of the T wave is referred to as the relative
refractory period (or vulnerable period).160ms
PR interval :The PR interval is measured from the beginning of the P wave to the beginning of the QRS complex.120 to 200ms
ST interval :The ST interval is measured from the J point to the end of the T wave.320ms
QT interval :The QT interval is measured from the beginning of the QRS complex to the end of the T wave. 300 to 440ms
U wave: The U wave is not always seen. It is typically small, and, by definition, follows the T wave.
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We all know the old saying ”An Apple a Day keeps Doctor away.” But how
many of us really do use all of the wonderful tools and medical
technologies that are available to us to keep a vigilant watch on our
health?
Technology has made our lives better than we thought it would. The
smart phones which were till now considered to be unviable product of
our generation are now turning out to be a truly marvelous tool. With the
aid of the numerous personal health applications. This is an area which
focuses on the maintenance of health conditions of the body, something
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which deals with regulation and sustenance of good health with the help
of constant check on the various body parameters.
Health care management today has progressed considerably /And all this
has been made possible with the help of these applications.
Electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) machines/recorders are no longer just
the large, bulky equipment that they once all were. Even some of the full
12-lead recorders today are small, portable, and operate through
desktop and laptop computers.
Now there are even smaller, self-contained, simple, one lead recorders
that are handheld, pocket-sized, battery operated, and have their own
built-in displays.
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The Single lead ECG can meet all the essential criteria of being a useful
screening tool. It has demonstrated enough specificity and sensitivity
(75-85%) in assorting the ECG results as healthy or pathological. An ECG
machine in this category is simple to operate.
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With the lack of blood in the parts like brain, and heart itself, these
organs do not perform properly and bring about damages inside the
body. With the help of the recent developments in the health
management tools the regulation of such fluctuations are better possible.
It is very easy to keep an account of all the developments in the body
functions with the help of these tools.
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The main benefit or these recorders are that they could be used
anytime,anywhere by patients with arrhythmias of even in healthy
individuals in association with regular exercise or sporting activities.
The single lead ECG monitors are easy for even untrained consumers to
use. With the help of this tool, it is hence possible for a regular patient to
keep a check on his health conditions.
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The chain itself is naturally strong and resilient and its designed to beat
constantly for many decades. However, with today's modern lifestyle we
put stresses on the many different links of the “chain”. Some of us
overeat, some of us smoke, some of us are overweight, some of us have
high blood pressure and some of us have all of the above risk factors for
heart disease.
Your heart “chain” can handle one or two of these stresses for a short
while and you can still lead a happy and healthy life by living a health
conscious lifestyle. But, if you stress the links to much with multiple risk
factors the chain will become weak and will eventually break.
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SmartONE ECG
The SmartONE ECG machine is a state of the art next generation heart
monitoring tool. It brings the precision engineering and advanced
capabilities of hospital grade machines into the comfort of the palms of
your two hands.
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If you or your loved ones have any of the risks we have discussed in this
e-book, then you definitely need to seriously consider investing into a
piece of equipment that can literally save your life.
Because of the risk factors you have in your health, your chain is in a
delicate position, and its been weakened.
At any moment it could break, so you need to keep constant watch and
the tools like SmartONE Portable ECG/EKG machine will help you do just
that.
Even if you feel as though you aren't specifically at risk for a heart
condition to arise in your life, having one of these machines can be an
insurance policy taken out on your heart health.
It offers you the choice to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You can never be
to careful, and if you're a health conscious person you should definitely
consider having these tools to better manage your heart health.
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Heart disease and stroke are responsible for almost one-third of the deaths in the world. That’s 17 million
people who lose their lives to these killers each year.* And heart disease not only can put your life in jeopardy,
it can also wreak havoc on your finances, sometimes even resulting in medical bankruptcy for you and your
family.
None of this has to happen to you. When you understand heart disease, stay in touch with your own heart
health and learn how to make smarter decisions in regard to your lifestyle and treatment, heart disease can be
manageable and even preventable.
•Web-based educational tools teach you about heart disease – its signs, risks and prevention – and help you
more successfully manage your own health.
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•Noninvasive devices, such as portable ECG machines , enable early diagnosis and help those suffering with
heart disease live full and productive lives, avoiding complications such as stroke.
•Heart rate monitors keep you in touch with your heart health – whether you are running or sitting behind a
desk – allowing you to maintain wellness.
•SmartONE HealthEPlan brings health prevention and integrated healthcare services into the workplace to
foster a happier, healthier and more productive corporate culture.
Health-Conscious Consumers. Even those who are healthy can use our products and
services to maintain their wellness – from home to work to fitness sessions.
Patients. Those suffering with heart disease or at high risk for stroke or heart attack, due to
family history or lifestyle, can keep a watchful eye on their heart rhythm, while continuing to
lead active lives.
Seniors. We give the elderly the freedom to live independently, while providing peace of
mind for their loved ones and elderly care givers.
Drug Researchers. Our portable EKG machines are a cost-effective way for researchers to
monitor drug trial participants for side effects as well as regulatory compliance, accelerating
product development.
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Corporate Culture. By reducing employee medical absence and even stress-related injuries
on the job, our solutions can increase business productivity.
Athletes. Our hand held ECG machines help athletes track their heart rhythms so they are
aware of changes during high-impact training or abnormal rhythms at any time.
Find tools to manage your health more effectively and intelligently with Cardioventis as your
partner for healthy life!
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Thank you.
Cardioventis Inc
2 Toronto Street
Suite 347
Toronto M5C 2B5
Canada
info@cardioventis.com
www.cardioventis.com
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