When it comes to heart transplants, a team of researchers is beginning to upend some of the conventional ways of thinking. In a recently published study, researchers found that people aged 70 or over were just as likely as younger folk to successfully undergo a heart transplant. This is surprising because it goes against conventional wisdom. In the past, doctors have been reluctant to perform this procedure should be avoided in older adults because the likelihood of success is low.
This is good news for the elderly. It provides a positive health outcome even for those that have advanced heart disease and require a transplant if they want to have a high quality of life as they age. It’s certainly not guaranteed that everyone that needs this particular procedure will be able to get it, and it isn’t a promise that those who would benefit will always be matched up with a suitable donor. But it is a piece of evidence that supports the procedure in the elderly and may be able to help a number of people in the future.
As people age, health tends to deteriorate. But even so, transplants may be able to help more people thanks to this study. More research is needed before a definitive answer is found–and other organs will require their own set of research, too. Either way, this is a strong step in the right direction for improving the health and quality of life that the elderly experience.
Researchers found that there was no difference in heart attack rates for those over age 70 when compared to younger people. They did find that older people were 3.5 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than younger people in the first year after the transplant. There’s a chance that the study was too small to be statistically significant here. They also found that the number of older people receiving transplants has increased in the last 20 years.
The research was conducted by the Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
I’m not a doctor. Ultimately, this is a conversation that you will need to have with a medical professional if this is something that you are considering or it otherwise directly impacts you. A transplant is never a small thing and they need to be treated like the major life event that they are. The purpose of this article is not to give medical advice, but rather to illustrate an exciting new development in research that has arisen.
If a loved one has an organ transplant–or any other major medical event, for that matter–help might be necessary. Once they are out of the hospital and sent home to recover, you might find that they are no longer able to care for themselves in the way that they once did. They might need more help from family members, or they might even need the help of a professional caregiver.
If you find yourself in a situation like this, you do have help available. Please feel free to reach out to us or another local care service to see what can be done to connect your family with the best possible resources when it comes to care.
Leave a Reply