External Counter Pulsation (ECP)

The heart and cardiovascular system play such pivotal roles in maintaining our overall health and fitness that taking measures to ensure heart health is vital to any anti-aging or longevity program. In a 2005 study published in Heart Failure Monitor, Gielen et al noted the striking similarities between aging and chronic heart failure, including “exercise intolerance, reduced cardiac functional reserve during exercise, and loss of skeletal muscle mass as a result of inflammation and catabolism.” They also described vascular aging as a “progressive decrease in flow-mediated, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation” and showed that aging of the cardiovascular system could begin in individuals as young as 25-35 years of age.

In addition, Lakatta and Levy state in a 2003 paper published in Circulation, “There is a continuum of expression of cardiac structural and functional alterations that occurs with age in healthy humans, and these age-associated cardiac changes seem to have relevance to the steep increases in LVH, chronic heart failure, and AF seen with increasing age.” It is clear that taking steps to maintain cardiovascular health is an essential component of any Longevity or Rejuvenation Program. No matter how much we may wish otherwise, the fact remains that we cannot stop time.

But is there anything that we can to stop or even reverse the harmful effects that aging and atherosclerosis have on the heart and cardiovascular system? Fortunately, there is. External Counter Pulsation (ECP) is a 50-year-old, non-invasive technology that has proven to be a safe and effective alternative or complement to invasive, high-risk procedures such as angioplasty and bypass surgery. Unlike these conventional treatments that target individual blockages, ECP treats heart disease as a chronic system-wide illness. By recruiting and helping to develop new collateral blood vessels, ECP maximizes blood flow to the heart, as well as throughout the entire body.

Cardiovascular disease affects more than 50 million people in India and is the leading cause of death for Indian men and women, accounting for nearly 1 million fatalities every year. One of the great dangers of heart disease is that it can take 10 to 20 years to develop. While there are certain genetic risk factors that can predispose one to the development of hesart disease – such as diabetes, hypertension, familial hyperlipidemia, high levels of homocysteine, and auto-immune or inflammatory processes – as well as acquired lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, improper nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, stress, and type II diabetes – coronary artery disease still often goes undetected until the heart and circulatory system have been seriously compromised. Therefore, an individual may experience no warning signs, not even pain, until he or she suffers a heart attack.

Conventional Management of Heart Disease

Traditionally, strategies for managing cardiovascular disease have focused on the modification of risk factors (poor diet/nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking), medication, and surgical procedures such as angioplasty and bypass surgery, which treat the illness as a “plumbing problem” and focus on opening or bypassing blockages in the vessels of the heart. Despite these interventions, 20% of patients who receive stents, 54% of patients who receive angioplasty, and 8% of patients who receive bypass surgery require repeat surgeries/procedures within a few years, and a significant number of people continue to suffer from frequent, severe, and disabling angina. It is clear that if we rely on these strategies alone, we will continue to fail these people.

A Non-Invasive Strategy for the Management of Heart Disease

External Counter Pulsation (ECP) is a completely non-invasive therapy, which causes minimal, if any, patient discomfort. Approved by the FDA (USA) and covered both by Medicare and by most major health plans in USA, a typical course of treatment of ECP costs only Rs.50,000/- to Rs.80,000/- in India. This is merely a fraction of the cost of angioplasty or bypass surgery, which can cost between rupees 1.5 lakhs and 3.5 lakhs . Despite the fact that many consider ECP a “low-tech” procedure, research has documented conclusively that this treatment significantly reduces mortality in the setting of acute myocardial infarction and/or cardiogenic shock. Furthermore, patients who undergo ECP use less nitroglycerine and experience fewer anginal episodes. Many patients report complete resolution of their angina. Additionally, when combined with conventional treatments, ECP will enhance their overall effectiveness.