EECP therapy or Enhanced External Counter Pulsation therapy is a non-invasive and effective treatment for angina and heart failures. Usually, it is an outpatient treatment of total thirty five hours. Every patient will be treated for an hour a day, five days a week and thus for seven weeks. The patient will made to lie on a comfortable treatment table with large blood pressure –like cuffs wrapped around legs and buttocks. These cuffs will inflate and deflate at regular intervals. An electro cardiogram will be set to set the time, and hence these cuffs will inflate when the heart is at rest and when it gets its supply of oxygen and blood normally. At the end of that rest period, and well before the next beat of the heart, the cuffs will deflate. Special sensors fitted to the fingers will measure the oxygen level in the blood and the pressure waves generated by the inflation and deflation of the cuffs.
Advantages of EECP
Many clinical studies have proven that the EECP therapy in elderly patients, who are very inactive, can bring out high energy, which will be equal to that of doing regular exercises. EECP treatment for heart can improve the amount of blood circulation almost 6 times better than any physical exercises meant for that. However, the patients undergoing this therapy should adhere strictly to the code of conduct and schedule prescribed by the doctors. Even they will have to continue with some minor regular exercises to maintain the result for a longer period. There are many other benefits from EECP therapy.
- It increases the energy and exercise tolerance.
- It improves the functioning of brain to a greater extent by improving the blood circulation.
- It reduces or eliminates completely the symptoms of chest pain.
- Similarly, it reduces the symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue.
- It reduces the leg pain from peripheral vascular diseases.
- It improves the sexual functionality in men.
- It reduces the workload of the heart and controls the blood pressure.
- It decreases medication.
Warnings and Precautions
According to FDA labelling, EECP therapy should not be used in treating patients with Arrhythmais, Bleeding Diathesis, Active Thombopjelebitis, pregnancy, etc. Similarly, there are several precautions should be taken before starting the treatment.
- Those with blood pressure more than 180/110 mmHg should control it before the treatment.
- Those with heart beating rate more than120bpm should control it before the treatment.
- Those suffering from clinically significant cardiovascular diseases should be treated with high care and should be monitored during treatment.
However, most of the clinics offering EECP therapy for heart are blessed with the presence of highly experienced professionals. Hence, all the precautions will be taken well before the treatment. That is the reason why this therapy enjoys a high success rate when compared to many other modes of treatments, which fall in the same category. This new generation therapy has gained popularity and now it is available in almost all parts of the world.
Author’s Bio
The author is a renowned doctor, who has been working with the DRSS Health Centre group for the last 2 years.