Vibrating trousers help angina patients, Enhanced External Counterpulsation

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 04 Oct 2004 - 11:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Angina patients in the UK are being treated with vibrating trousers (pants) which work by increasing the blood flow to the heart - the treatment is called Enhanced External Counterpulsation.

The trousers have long inflatable cuffs, similar to those used for blood pressure measurements. The cuffs wrap themselves snugly around the calves, thighs and buttocks. As your heart beats the cuffs inflate and deflate. This forces the blood upwards to your heart � at the same time an ECG heart monitor keeps on eye on your heart rate.

If you have angina the main arteries of the heart are blocked, either partially or completely. You feel pain in your chest � a sensation of heaviness, burning, squeezing and tightness.

Current treatments for angina include surgery (bypass grasts, angioplasty) and stenting. The problem is that for some patients current treatments do not help them. UK doctors are offering these vibrating trousers for these patients � the ones who have not experienced improvements to their health with current treatments.

The patient is treated for seven weeks. He/she has to wear the pants for one hour a day, five days a week. The patient lies on a bed and has the cuffs wrapped around parts of his legs. The cuffs inflate and deflate just before each heart beat � the patient has to be resting for this to work.

As more blood is pushed to the heart it grows new blood vessels around the blocked arteries � this eventually helps feed the heart better.

Dr Chris Morley, Yorkshire Clinic, Bradford, UK said, "It's been remarkable. They are very ill patients. We have now treated about 30 patients in the last 18 months and the results are not only beyond our expectations, a small number of patients have done so well their lives have been transformed."

This treatment is also available at the Nuffield Hospital, Leeds, the Alexandra Hospital, Manchester and the Cromwell Hospital, London.

The seven-week treatment costs �10,500. It is completely free for patients in Bradford. The patients in Manchester and London have to pay for part of the treatment (the NHS funds only part of it there).

Most private health insurers will pay for the course, says Vasogenics, the company that makes the vibrating trousers.