'Heart shrinking' trial to combat heart failure to begin

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17870314

A trial using electricity to shrink the hearts of patients with heart failure is about to start in Liverpool.

It will involve electrically stimulating one of the nerves leading to the heart, which it is hoped could shrink the heart and improve life expectancy.

This is the first trial of the technique in humans, after it was shown to keep rats and dogs alive for longer.

This first patient will be operated on in the next few days.

The heart pumps blood around the body, and when it fails to do this properly people can become tired and out of breath far more quickly. For some patients it feels like running a marathon when they are only sitting in an armchair.

[MineralMan]

1. That will be a very good thing

if it works. A lot of people are essentially crippled by this. I'd cross my fingers, but I'm not superstitious.

[Warpy]

2. I know the Batista procedure of physically altering the heart

by reshaping it didn't work as planned. I've seen it attempted twice with poor outcomes.

I hope this works to tighten up a big, stretched out, boggy heart. Heart failure has got to be one of the worst ways to go.