What Exactly Is a Heart Transplant? When Is it Needed Most?
Heart Disease and Heart Failure are not sicknesses that should be played around with. These sicknesses are extremely severe and require the highest amount of treatment possible. This is where a heart transplant comes into play. “A heart transplant replaces the patient’s heart with a donor heart,” mentions the American Heart Association. This means that finding a donor is critical to the success of the heart transplant.
Unfortunately, it may take a very long time before a donor of a heart is actually found. There are many people that are unfortunately suffering from these sicknesses and have to wait too long to get access to a heart. It is needed as soon as any of these sicknesses are found and are absolutely irreversible. Meaning, that cardiologists can do nothing else, but replace your heart with a new one.
Will Life Be The Same After a Heart Transplant?
There are many cardiologists that say that life will certainly be the same after having this operation done. The only thing to keep in mind is the fact that you may have to take medications for the rest of your life.
“They will also watch for side effects of the immunosuppressive medications, which include diabetes, infection, kidney disease, cancer or high blood pressure,” according to the American Heart Association. There is a chance that these side effects will never arise, and you will never have a problem with taking the medications after your operation.
New Method Introduced in Heart Transplants
There was a technological breakthrough when it came to preserving hearts for patients in different states. As aforementioned, there are many people that suffer from heart disease and heart failure. This means that they need a heart as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the amount of hearts that there are available is not enough. That is why this new piece of technology was introduced.
“The new device expands the number of hearts available for transplant by increasing the distance the donor hearts can travel,” according to CBS News. This device grants many people in different states to have access to a heart, despite them being so far away.
Time is of the essence when heart transplants are needed across the United States. “Previously, hearts needed to be transplanted within approximately four hours. Doctors have successfully transplanted a heart that’s been in the machine for more than nine hours,” added CBS News. This 5-hour difference could ultimately end up saving many lives. This is why this is such a huge technological advancement, as it can provide many people with a second chance at life.
The Cost of a Heart Transplant is Mind-Boggling
Now that the basics of a transplant have been covered, and how important they are to humans, what about their cost? “The average billed cost of a heart transplant is an estimated $1,382,400,” according to consulting firm Milliman, and other organs aren’t much cheaper. This, of course, is before the insurance covers some of that cost.
Furthermore, $1.3 million is not a very low amount of money, and many people may have a lot of trouble recovering from such a high cost. It certainly is very unfortunate that something that many people need to survive, comes at such a high cost. In the future, and possibly thanks to advancing technology, there is hope that the overall cost of a heart transplant decreases in the future.
The Future of Heart Transplants
As aforementioned, there is a hope that the cost of heart transplants is reduced. This is thanks to technology, which continues to evolve every day. This will make hearts more widespread, and more lives will be saved.
Written by David Loran Jr
Sources:
CBS News: New method revolutionizes heart transplants
Insider: Why organ transplants are so expensive in the US
American Heart Association: Heart Transplant
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Inset Image Courtesy of mallix’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
