BY ASHRAF PADANNA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala-based Med.Links Cardiocare Private Limited has introduced the Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP) treatment, which helps treat cardiac patients non-surgically without risk, for the first time in the state.

"If you have heart disease, you probably know all about statins (cholesterol lowering medications) and beta blockers (Blood Pressure Medication), angioplasty and bypass surgery, and the benefits of regular exercise," explains Dr Ajith Joy. K, the chief executive officer.

"What is to be done when all these treatments fail or when someone is not eligible for the above treatments? About 30 per cent of all cardiac patients are in this category and they live on suffering with chest pain, mobility restriction, severe breathlessness, swelling on the feet, etc. The EECP could be an approved treatment method for them."

The idea behind this wacky-sounding treatment is to decrease the demand on an ailing heart by helping it push blood through the body.

According to the team of doctors at the Med.Links, the EECP diminishes the symptoms of ischemia.

In numerous studies, EECP has been shown to relieve angina, improve exercise tolerance, and decrease the degree of ischemia in a cardiac stress test.

"The EECP works amasingly well to relieve chest pain for most patients. Patients who have undergone surgery but still suffer from chest pain and breathlessness and those who have symptoms even after optimal medical management and post-angioplasty can be helped by this treatment," he said.

First approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, EECP is most often used in patients with stable angina, the kind that often lasts five minutes or less, is brought on by physical exertion and is usually relieved by drugs like nitroglycerin.

"Unfortunately, stable angina isn't always easily controlled with medications, and some people just aren't good candidates for angioplasty or surgery. That's where EECP comes in," said Dr Joy.

Patients lie down during the procedure, which lasts an hour, and is performed once-a-day, five times a week, for seven weeks.