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Modifying
the immune system can help heal patients
with Heart Failure
Newswise — Modifying the immune system of a
patient with heart failure reduces the
patient’s risk of death and the need for
hospitalization, according to research
published in today’s edition of The Lancet.
“Immune modulation therapy could provide
physicians with a new way of treating large
numbers of patients with heart failure,”
said Dr. Guillermo Torre-Amione, principal
investigator of the study and cardiologist
at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center in
Houston.
Activation of the immune system in patients
with systolic heart failure increases the
concentration of molecules that can injure
the heart in a way that leads to heart
failure.
New research shows that modification of this
immune response is an appealing potential
therapy for many patients with heart
failure.
The technique involves intentionally
damaging some of the patient’s blood cells
to trick the body into producing
anti-inflammatory cells that heal the
damaged heart.
In patients with no history of heart attack,
immune modulation therapy (IMT) showed a 26
percent reduction in the risk for death and
rehospitalization. In those with Stage 2
NYHA heart failure, those risks were reduced
by 39 percent.
“While further research is needed, the
ability to change or modulate the patient’s
immune response has now been shown to be
attainable as well as successful in treating
certain stages of heart failure,” Torre
said.
About the study
In the ACCLAIM trial, researchers conducted
a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of
a device-based IMT on 2,246 patients.
All the patients had New York Heart
Association (NYHA) functional class II-IV
chronic heart failure, left ventricular
systolic dysfunction, and hospitalization
for heart failure or intravenous drug
therapy in an outpatient setting within the
past 12 months.
Patients were randomized to receive IMT
(1,213) or placebo (1,213). The study went
on until all patients had been treated for
at least 22 weeks. The primary endpoint was
death (from any cause) or subsequent first
hospitalization for cardiovascular reasons.
During a mean follow-up of 10.2 months,
there were 399 primary events in the IMT
group and 429 in the placebo group, giving a
reduction of risk in the IMT group of 8
percent.
However, in two prespecified subgroups of
patients – those with no history of heart
attack (919) and those with NYHA II heart
failure (619), IMT was associated with a 26
percent and 39 percent reduction in the risk
of primary events, respectively.
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