|
| Diabetes & Hypertension Center offers EECP® in an environment that encourages lifestyle changes that promotes good health. |
Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) is a non-surgical therapy for angina, heart disease, high blood pressure and other conditions involving poor circulation. |
A Natural Bypass
| If you’ve been diagnosed with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetic neuropathy, or another circulatory disorder, you could benefit from a nonsurgical therapy called EECP. This therapy is sometimes referred to as a “natural bypass” because it enhances the body’s ability to create new pathways for blood flow around clogged arteries. EECP greatly accelerates the formation of tiny blood vessels called collaterals, helping restore healthy circulation to organs and tissues that have been deprived of blood and oxygen. |
 |
|
 |
During an EECP treatment, you lie on a bed wearing a series of adjustable cuffs around your calves, lower thighs, and upper thighs. The cuffs are inflated in sequence, placing pressure on the legs which pushes blood flow from the lower limbs up towards the heart. The inflation of the cuffs is timed to occur so that increased blood flow is delivered to the heart at the precise moment it is relaxing. Then, just before the heart pumps, the cuffs deflate, reducing resistance and decreasing the heart’s workload. A treatment session lasts about one hour, during which you can read, listen to music or relax comfortably. Patients undergo 35 one-hour sessions, once a day over the course of seven weeks. |
|
EECP was developed at Harvard University almost 50 years ago as a therapy for angina, the squeezing chest pain that occurs when the heart is not getting enough oxygen. This most common symptom of coronary artery disease can be extremely disabling, interfering with the ability to work, exercise, or enjoy social activities.
By encouraging the formation of collaterals around blockages in the coronary arteries, EECP enhances the heart’s supply of oxygen and reduces chest pain. Several studies conducted at leading university medical centers have shown that patients who undergo a course of EECP experience significant benefits:
They have fewer episodes of angina.
They experience less intense episodes of angina.
They need less anti-angina medication.
They walk farther without experiencing angina.
They can resume work and enjoy more social activities. |
 |
|
EECP Completely Safe
 |
Unlike drugs that are prescribed for angina, EECP is completely safe and without side effects. And unlike angioplasty and bypass surgery – EECP is non-surgical and is done on an outpatient basis which requires no post treatment recovery period. EECP benefits in heart disease are so recognized, Medicare approves it for treatment of angina.
Many patients undergo EECP after suffering a heart attack or even several surgeries for coronary artery disease. In some cases, EECP is their only option. Yet this noninvasive therapy is so safe and effective that it should be considered a firstline treatment for angina, not just last resort after surgery has been ruled out. |
|
Congestive Heart Failure
Diabetic Neuropathy
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Hypertension
Kidney Disease
Memory Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Erectile Dysfunction
Vision problems |
|
|
