Fwd: Cardiac cocktail delivered by medics may save lives

March 30, 2012

FYI

Louis N. Molino, Sr. CET FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI Training Program Manager , Fire &

Safety Specialists, Inc. (Office) (Office FAX)

(Cell) Sent from my Samsung Captivate on AT&T. Please forgive

any typos.

--- Cardiac cocktail delivered by medics may save lives

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CHICAGO - Paramedics armed with a cheap, three-ingredient injection cocktail

were able to reduce heart attack patients' risk of dying by 50 percent, said

a US study released on Tuesday.

When the shot was given early to patients with signs of a heart attack, the

mixture of glucose, insulin and potassium, or GIK, showed remarkable success

in preventing full cardiac arrest - when the heart stops beating - and even

death.

And each shot cocktail costs only about $50, according to the research

presented at the American College of Cardiology's 61st annual scientific

meeting in Chicago.

" When started immediately in the home or on the way to the hospital - even

before the diagnosis is completely established - GIK appears to reduce the

size of heart attacks and to reduce by half the risk of having a cardiac

arrest or dying, " said co-principal investigator Harry Selker.

" Because the trial is the first to show GIK is effective when used by

paramedics in real-world community settings, it could have important

implications for the treatment of heart attacks, " added Selker, executive

director of the Institute for Clinical Research at Tufts Medical Center.

Previous trials using the formula were inconclusive, possibly because the

shot was being given to patients too late, he said.

But this trial, which randomized 911 patients to receive either the shot or

a placebo and was carried out by trained paramedics in 13 cities across the

United States, showed positive effects in those who were given the

treatment.

The treatment did not prevent heart attacks from occurring, but cut the

likelihood of cardiac arrest by 50 percent over patients who did not get the

shot. The risk of immediate death also dropped by 50 percent.

The effects were visible over the month following the event as well, with

patients given the shot 40 percent less likely to die or be hospitalized for

heart failure than those who did not.

In patients with a certain kind of heart attack in which a coronary artery

becomes completely blocked, known as an ST-elevation heart attack, immediate

GIK was associated with a 60 percent reduction in cardiac arrest or death.

Those who got GIK and were later confirmed to have had a heart attack saw an

average of two percent of their heart tissue damaged, compared to 10 percent

in the placebo group.

While 23 percent of the suspected heart attacks in the study turned out to

be false alarms, patients who got the GIK shot showed no negative side

effects from the treatment.

The key difference in this trial compared to previous ones appeared to be

the act of giving the shot right away, rather than waiting for a confirmed

diagnosis at the hospital.

" We wanted to do something that is effective and can be used anywhere, " said

Selker.

" More people die of heart attacks outside the hospital than inside the

hospital. Hundreds of thousands of people per year are dying out in the

community; we wanted to direct our attention to those patients. "

March 30, 2012

Anchorage Paramedics, Heart-Attack Patients Help Test New Drug

http://www.defrance.org/artman/publish/article_2866.shtml

DeFrance, Alaska

" Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.

It's about learning to dance in the rain. "

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Sent: Fri, March 30, 2012 1:24:16 PM

Subject: Fwd: Cardiac cocktail delivered by medics may save lives