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Strange question: I know stories of people who dropped dead from their first heart attack. Would it be viable to install a ICD even without a history of heart p
by Chris2048 3y ago
Strange question: I know stories of people who dropped dead from their first heart attack. Would it be viable to install a ICD even without a history of heart problems? Like having you tonsils/appendix removed early. That would feel inline with the "cyborg" topic - proactive implants rather than reactive.
- jareklupinski 3y ago> Would it be viable to install a ICD even without a history of heart problems i think the reasonable alternative to this led to all the red Automated External Defibrillator stations around which is quite a social cyborg thing to do
- KineticLensman 3y agoProbably no. Lots of different sorts of 'heart attack'. My form of VF is basically due to an electrical fault, not due to blocked arteries / clagged up valves, etc. Implantation has some risks (infection, etc) and the device needs to be swapped out every few years when the battery dies. The device can only help if you have a 'shockable' rhythm. It doesn't restart a stopped heart, it causes the out-of-control muscle fibres in a fibrillating (quivering) heart to resynchronise so that you get proper pumping in the heart's chambers. Cost is obviously a factor as well.