Is this cheating death...

[drlowz]

Im reading this and Im caught in the middle. Is this type of surgery cheating death or is it something you would have done yourself. i am looking for serious inquiries to this post if it is not serious be forwarned it will be deleted...http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=389238&nav=0RZE





THANKS
DRLOWZ

[wgscott]

Well, let me answer, since I have no heart

Sorry, but the threat is a bit silly. ;;

I don't think this is cheating death. The guy was predicted to die in 30 days and the initial, modest goal, is to keep him alive to 60 days. Now they are becoming more optimistic, but what remains to be seen is what the guy's quality of life is. If this thing just grinds up all of his red blood cells like the Jarvic 7 and produces heinous side effects, he might be better off dead. But if it really works like it seems to in the cows, then I think we are really onto something more than a half-hearted attempt to keep this guy alive, and the research will not have been all in vein.

[Biomanjcs72]

I agree the threat was a bit over the top.

But about the heart, I don't think it's cheating death, if it can double this guys life expectancy from 30 to 60 days, that's great. I've known a few people that lost loved ones to Leukemia, Cancer, etc. and they were thankful for each and every day the chemo or whatever gave them. They are already working to genetically alter pigs so that they can harvest and use organs as replacements in humans, so I don't think that this will be a viable for too very long, we'll be using pig parts before too long.

(for the record, the guy that they used the first artificial heart on was Dr. Barney Clark, a retired dentist, the name in the article was a typo.)

[Ninong]

You have to look at this as donating your body to medical research. The patient must be ineligible for a human heart donation and must have a life expectancy of less than 30 days to qualify for consideration. Let's face it, the patient is not expected to live even with this mechanical heart, so it is not really a matter of extending his life--not at this stage of the testing anyway.

The patient is generously allowing himself to be used so that research can be conducted that may pave the way for future patients to receive devices capable of adding years to their life expectancy.

If this is cheating death, then so is a liver or kidney transplant... or a bone marrow transplant, lung transplant, heart transplant, etc.

Ninong

[MarkS]

I agree whole heartedly(no pun intended) with Ninong.

I do not feel that this is cheating death. It is prolonging his life, even if it is for only a short time. The results of this test could help thousands on people each year. I cannot find anything wrong with that.

And yes, the threat was unnescessary...

Mark

[FishKid]

I think its our next step towards becomming the ultimate race! If they perfect this, we would never have to worry about dieing!

mark

[thezookeeper]

I also have the same views as listed above with MarkS and Ninong, etc. And the threat was silly indeed.


Joanne

[Reinhold]

Very often, research such as this ultimately contributes to numerous other fields, seemingly unrelated to the drama of heart replacement.

I'm not sure that artificial hearts will become common, at least in the near future, but the work being done in conjunction with them, such as flow and turbulence studies, cell preservation and artificial membrane and surface technology, anticoagulation and rate and volume regulation will find its way into other applications in medicine.

Little things can ultimately become quite debilitating. Patients with previous artificial hearts report having extreme difficulty relaxing and sleeping because of the noise and vibration emanating from their chests.

[ranaman]

Right you are about the little things. The 4 hour battery life could become very annoying. Just think of trying to get a nights rest while wondering if you will move the power pack out of alignment. I assume they have an AC adapter so it can run on household current when you are sleeping or sitting in a chair at home. Then the question comes up is there an alarm when the battery is moved away from the power receiver. If this is a prototype the docs might just be happy it runs and the bells and whistles can wait for later.
Still if you were slowly wasting away, afew months or ayear of reasonable health might be worth it.
just remember with science what doesn't work is sometimes as important as what does, and there is always some wisea** that will figure out that something can work if just do it like this.

[Ltspd]

I agree with the majority. This guy is paving the way for others. He wasnt expected to live more than 30. They are shooting for 60, and I imagine that most of those days, if acheivable, will be in a hospital or with a full time medical associate. Still, based on how you look at life, the extra days are welcomed.

But IMO when its your time, its your time, regardless of mechanical means.

[dsb1829]

That would really suck! I would end up dead by forgetting to charge the damn battery. I agree that this is a good thing. Not cheating in any way shape or form. I have some personal beleifs that I care not to share here so I will leave it as that.