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 COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Heart failure affects more than 5 million people in the United States, and it's the most common cause of hospitalizations for people over 70. The number of patients with heart failure is expected to double in the next 30 years. Researchers are looking for ways to cut down on hospital stays by monitoring patients from home. Thanks to a new technology, bi brother is watching and keeping an eye on troubled hearts.
Heart failure made simple steps difficult for Water Pieschel. Medication and a pacemaker keep him going, but he worries about the unexpected. That's why doctors keep an eye on his heart 24/7.
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 They are able to see in every day what might be going on, where otherwise, I would just be sitting there waiting for something to happen or something to put me in the hospital," Pieschel told Ivanhoe.
Pieschel is part of a trial testing a small sensor implanted in his pulmonary artery, the one that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. The sensor monitors blood pressure and transmits the readings by phone to his doctors office.
By monitoring those pressures on a day to day basis and treating accordingly -- keeping the pressures low -- we hope to avoid those episodes of worsening heart failure and hospitalization," William Abraham, M.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, told Ivanhoe.
 You can console yourself and say, well, if something is happening, theres a good chance theyre going to detect it and let you know," Pieschel said.
Keeping his heart in check and putting his mind at ease.
It's estimated heart failure hospitalizations cost $33 billion a year. The trial involves 550 patients at 65 heart centers around the U.S.
More Information
Click here for additional research on Watching Hearts at Home
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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Doug Flowers
Public Relations
The Ohio State University Medical Center
(614) 293-3670
doug.flowers@osumc.edu
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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