Innovative Tech Tackles Heart Failure Symptoms

(BPT) – Heart failure affects more than six million adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with numbers expected to significantly rise over the next decade. It is a condition that develops when the heart isn’t pumping enough blood to meet the body’s needs — which can happen when the heart is unable to fill up with enough blood or if it is too weak to pump the blood properly.As a chronic, progressive condition requiring lifelong management, people with heart failure often seek effective treatment options — including medicines, procedures and devices — to relieve their symptoms and improve their quality of life.For patients like Jim Bennett, a 75-year-old from Brainerd, Minnesota, who was used to living an active lifestyle, congestive heart failure prevented him from living a normal life.“I felt weak and tired all the time and knew I didn’t want to spend my life sitting in the living room chair,” said Jim. “When my doctor recommended Barostim and gave me the option to feel better, I was ready for a change.”Jim, a father of three and grandfather of eight, has always loved spending time on the water at his 3.5-acre home. But over the last three years, he suffered three heart attacks, leading to congestive heart failure. And after limited success with contemporary medications to improve his symptoms, Jim’s doctor considered him a good candidate.Barostim is the only FDA-approved heart failure device to use neuromodulation — stimulation of the nervous system — to improve the symptoms of heart failure.Barostim is an implantable device that works by stimulating baroreceptors — natural sensors located in the wall of the carotid artery — that tell the nervous system how to regulate heart, kidney and vascular function. These effects may reduce the heart’s workload and help it pump more efficiently, helping to restore balance of the autonomic nervous system and improve the symptoms of heart failure, like breathlessness, fatigue and swelling.Following his implant, Jim noticed significant improvements in his symptoms and a newfound energy. “Since receiving Barostim, I’m back mowing. I’m able to do yardwork, get outside and spend time being active,” said Jim.Barostim is designed for heart failure patients who may not get adequate symptom relief from medications alone, with data showing that patients who received Barostim — in addition to their standard medications — felt much better and could walk farther than patients receiving only their medications.1 If you suffer from the symptoms of heart failure, and the medications you have been prescribed are not enough to help you return to the activities you enjoy, Barostim may be the right therapeutic option for you.To learn more, visit https://www.cvrx.com/.1 Zile MR, et al. Eur J Heart Fail. 2024 Apr 12