Celebrex Side Effects: Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD)
Cardiac Sudden Death occurs when the heart stops suddenly with or without cause. The heart’s electrical impulses become rapid and then chaotic causing the heart to stop pumping blood.
The second cause for cardiac death is through the extreme reduction in heart-beats. SCD occurs most commonly in persons who are already suffering from coronary heart disease.
A quarter of all deaths in the United States—about a thousand deaths a
day—are sudden cardiac deaths, which are unexpected and occur within an hour of
the time that symptoms first appear.
Sudden cardiac deaths, in turn, are
often linked to ventricular arrhythmia.
It is extremely important to
identify patients at risk for sudden (as opposed to nonsudden) cardiac death
with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.
It is also important
to identify the treatments most apt to save lives and increase quality of
life.
In 1994, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
funded a Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) on cardiac
arrhythmias.
The PORT addressed major questions concerning the value of
screening and efficacy of treatments—specifically, drug treatments and
implantable cardiac defibrillators, or ICDs.
An ICD is surgically
implanted in a patient's chest to monitor the heart's rhythm and disrupt
potentially serious arrhythmias with an electric shock.
In September
2002, the American Heart Journal published seven studies from the Cardiac
Arrhythmia PORT.
Overall, the studies demonstrate that the increasing use
of ICDs for managing ventricular arrhythmias has reduced mortality and also may
have improved patients' quality of life.
Nevertheless, considerable
variation exists in the use of ICDs, suggesting that doctors are uncertain as to
when they should be used or that such decisions are being driven by nonclinical
factors.
The challenge of identifying which patients are best suited for
ICD implantation remains.
Have you been taking
Celebrex and are experiencing this side effect? For a FREE lawsuit
consultation fill out the following simple
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see also:
Angina
Celebrex Side Effects: AnginaCelebrex Side Effects - Angina Information
Heart Attack
Celebrex Side Effect: Heart AttackCelebrex Heart Attack Information - FREE Lawsuit Case Evaluation
Heart Risks
Learn more about the dangerous heart risks of CelebrexHeart Risks double while taking Celebrex - Find out more
