Cõst õf Heart Disease to triple by 2030·

[dianartemis]

Holy crap! This puts me off doughnuts and fries, but not pizza. Go figure.

ohsonline.com/articles/2011/01/27/cost-to-treat-heart-disease-will-triple-by-2030-aha.aspx

Cost to Treat Heart Disease Will Triple by 2030: AHA
Currently, 1 in 3 Americans (36.9 percent) have some form of heart disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and other conditions, according to the American Heart Association.

Jan 27, 2011
According to a policy statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the cost to treat heart disease in the United Stations will triple by 2030.

“Despite the successes in reducing and treating heart disease over the last half century, even if we just maintain our current rates, we will have an enormous financial burden on top of the disease itself,” said Dr. Paul Heidenreich, chair of the American Heart Association expert panel issuing the statement.

The panel estimated future medical costs based on the current rates of disease and used census data to adjust for anticipated population shifts in age and race. The methods they devised didn’t double count costs for patients with multiple heart conditions.

“These estimates don’t assume that we will continue to make new discoveries to reduce heart disease,” Heidenreich said. “If our ability to prevent and treat heart disease stays where we are right now, costs will triple in 20 years just through demographic changes in the population.”

The panel said effective prevention strategies are needed to limit the growing burden of cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death in the United States that accounts for 17 percent of overall national health expenditures.

“Unhealthy behaviors and unhealthy environments have contributed to a tidal wave of risk factors among many Americans,” said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO. “Early intervention and evidence-based public policies are absolute musts to significantly reduce alarming rates of obesity, hypertension, tobacco use, and cholesterol levels.”

Currently, 1 in 3 Americans (36.9 percent) have some form of heart disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and other conditions. By 2030, approximately 116 million people in the United States (40.5 percent) will have some form of cardiovascular disease, the panel said. The largest increases are anticipated in stroke (up 24.9 percent) and heart failure (up 25 percent).

Between 2010 to 2030, the cost of medical care for heart disease (in 2008 dollar values) will rise from $273 billion to $818 billion, the authors predicted. “We were all surprised at the remarkable increase in costs that are expected in the next two decades,” Heidenreich said. “We need to continue to invest resources in the prevention of disease, the treatment of risk factors and early treatment of existing disease to reduce that burden.”

Heart disease will also cost the nation billions more in lost productivity, increasing from an estimated $172 billion in 2010 to $276 billion in 2030. Productivity losses include days missed from home or work tasks because of illness and potential lost earnings due to premature death.

[dianartemis]

This would be a cool app to have!

ohsonline.com/articles/2011/01/27/citizen-dispatch-cpr-app-praised.aspx

Department's 'Citizen Dispatch' CPR App Praised
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District released a new location-aware iPhone app on Jan. 25 that will alert users who've indicated they are trained in CPR if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency and may need help.

Jan 27, 2011
A possible breakthrough iPhone app has been introduced by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD), which serves a population of about 170,000 people in San Ramon and surrounding communities. The district is located in Contra Costa County, east of San Francisco, Calif. The app will alert users who have indicated they are trained in CPR if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency and may need help. The app also directs the citizen rescuers to the exact location of the closest public access AED.

The district's chief, Richard Price, said SRVFPD "will share tools to allow other public safety agencies to deploy the Fire Department application at no cost in their community. Although pioneered here, the value of this application is far too important to society to not ambitiously share it with other communities around the globe."

Fire service and emergency response organizations praised the news. Dr. Joseph Barger, medical director for Contra Costa EMS, said the app "casts a much wider net over many more potential rescuers, and it greatly increases the odds that CPR will be started and an AED will be used, prior to the arrival of paramedics. It's very exciting to think about the lives that will be saved by this new technology."

Skip Kirkwood, National EMS Management Association president, sthe app should increase the frequency and quality of bystander CPR and speed the use of public access AEDs. He said it is "paramount" to expand the reach of the app, which is impressively described at www.firedepartment.mobi. To try it free, search "fire department" at the Apple App Store or visit this link to install it on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 4.2 or later.

"Because of the enormous potential benefit to society in general, we are extremely pleased that Chief Price and the board of directors of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District have generously chosen to share their work with others," said Jack Parow, International Association of Fire Chiefs president. "The IAFC is committed to seeing this technology implemented broadly and on multiple mobile platforms."

The app is the newest component in the Contra Costa County HeartSafe Community Program. It was designed by SRVFPD personnel in partnership with the Center for Applied Informatics at Northern Kentucky University.

[DebMD (banned)]

1. No one will look after your health better than you.

2. If an ADULT[non hypothermic ] person has been 'down' more than 6 minutes of CPR there is significant brain damage.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

If a person has suffered cardiac arrest, they *may possibly* suffer brain damage if CPR is not administered within the first six minutes of the attack --- not the way you stated which was after 6 minutes of CPR administration.

[DebMD (banned)]

If the person has had CPR for 6 minutes and are not 'brought' back there is significant brain damage.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

You still don't understand. The administering of CPR needs to start within a 6 minute (max) timeframe if possible in order to get oxygen& blood to the brain so as to avoid risk of any permanent brain damage. You're saying that there WILL be brain damage after 6 minutes of CPR administration to the patient if he does not regain consciousness within that timeframe. Not true.

My brother is an EMT. I'd strongly suggest that you not give out medical advice if you're not qualified.

[DebMD (banned)]

Irregardless of the start time of CPR if they are not 'brought back' after 6 minutes there is significant brain injury because the brain has not been perfused[had adequate blood supply] for 6 minutes.

[DebMD (banned)]

'Brought back' means that the patient has a pulse and blood pressure.
One can give CPR til the cows come home but without a pulse or blood pressure the brain after 6 minutes is damaged.

[DebMD (banned)]

CPR 'buys' time so the patient can be resuscitated in the hospital.