1000+ Cincinnati-area Heart Patients Receive Non-invasive EECP® Therapy to Halt Angina Pain and Reverse Symptoms of Heart Failure
Cardiologist Charles W. Abbottsmith, MD, of Ohio Heart and Vascular Center Says Many Heart Patients with Chest Pain, Fatigue and Shortness of Breath are able to Discard Wheelchairs and Walk after Series of Painless One-hour EECP® Treatments
Online, November 27, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Dr. Charles W. Abbottsmith has announced that his clinic, The Ohio Heart and Vascular Center, is offering a painless, non-invasive therapy called Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP®) for Cincinnati-area residents suffering from angina and congestive heart failure. A practicing cardiologist in the Cincinnati area since 1971, Dr. Abbottsmith says his clinic has, over the past thirteen years, successfully delivered EECP® treatments to more than one thousand heart disease patients to relieve chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and other conditions associated with restricted coronary blood flow.
"We routinely see reductions in angina symptoms and fatigue after ten to fifteen one-hour treatments," says Dr. Abbottsmith. "We've had patients brought to us in wheelchairs for their first treatment, and in a short time they're able to walk in and out of the clinic on their own and drive themselves to and from treatments."
Dr. Abbottsmith says during EECP® therapy, the patient reclines comfortably on a special bed and a series of cuffs similar to blood pressure cuffs are wrapped around the legs and buttocks. A continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) triggers the cuffs to inflate and deflate in sync with the patient's own heart beat, pumping oxygen-rich blood toward the patient's heart during the heart's resting phase.
"The additional blood flow not only nourishes and revitalizes oxygen-starved tissues in the heart, but the extra flow also effects arteries throughout the entire body and promotes the healing and rebuilding of stiff or damaged arterial walls," says Dr. Abbottsmith.
Dr. Abbottsmith says EECP® therapy also stimulates the growth of new collateral arteries which reroute blood supply around obstructions to the heart, circumventing arterial blockages to create what is, in effect, a "natural bypass".
Dr. Abbottsmith says that EECP® therapy can often allow patients to reduce or eliminate their use of heart-related medications.
"We've found that EECP® therapy is effective in reducing or eliminating angina pain and significantly increasing stamina, exercise tolerance, and quality of life for about seventy-five percent of the patients receiving it, and these benefits can last as long as three to five years," says Dr. Abbottsmith.
Dr. Abbottsmith says EECP® therapy is covered by Medicare and most private insurers and produces no known side effects.
For more information about EECP® therapy please contact Dr. Abbottsmith's coordinator, Ms Doris Osborne, at 513-792-7826, or visit The Ohio Heart and Vascular Center, 10506 Montgomery Rd., Suite 501, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45242.
To visit The Ohio Heart and Vascular Center online go to www.ohioheartandvascular.com.
EECP® is a registered trademark of Vasomedical, Inc., Westbury, NY
About Charles W. Abbottsmith, MD, of The Ohio Heart and Vascular Center
Dr. Abbottsmith is one of the founding members of The Ohio Heart and Vascular Center. His vision and nearly 40 years experience in cardiovascular health has helped shape the group into one of the nation's finest.
He served as Major in the US Army Medical Corps starting in 1969 and has been a practicing cardiologist in Cincinnati since 1971, and has held numerous positions with hospitals since then, including Director, Section of Cardiology for The Christ Hospital from 1974 until 2003. He has authored many publications in the treatment and diagnosis of heart disease.
A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), Dr. Abbottsmith was named to the 2007-2008 Best Doctors in America® list.
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