Pacemaker: A Helping-Agent for Extending the Life-Span of Individuals Having Heart Problems

The human body is quite mysterious. The proper functionality of each organ is important for a healthy body. Among all organs, the heart is a crucial that plays a major role in the well-functioning of the human body. We generally think that eating oily food may cause heart problems, however, it is not the only reason. Stress, excessive smoking or alcohol intake, dietary supplements, high blood pressure are also some vital factors causing heart problems. There is no such particular age group for heart diseases. The prevalence of chronic heart diseases is increasing among young people. As a solution to these rising cardiovascular diseases, pacemaker contributes a big hand in enabling people to survive critical heart diseases. Before moving towards the numerous benefits and needs of pacemakers, let’s begin with the fundamentals first.

What is a Pacemaker?

A pacemaker is a small electronic device that is usually placed in the chest to prevent the human heart from beating extremely slow. The device is implanted into the human body with surgery to regulate a normal heart rate. Basically, the occurrence of heartbeat is an electrical phenomenon, in which the heart act as a pump to stimulate the flow of electric impulse through the nerves within a specific circuit. When there is a problem in this electrical conduction system of the heart, then a pacemaker is needed to deliver a proper response, which the heart used to do.

Generally, a pacemaker consists of three major parts, which are as follows:

• A Pulse Generator
• One or More Leads
• Electrode

Who Specifically Needs a Pacemaker?

There are different parameters and factors to know the need for a pacemaker in the human body. Some of the major scenarios are discussed below:

• When in the human heart, both the speed and rhythm of beats are disturbed, such as too fast or too slow heartbeats, then these may affect the four chambers of the heart. This condition of the heart is termed arrhythmias, and at this condition, a pacemaker is required.
   
• Sometimes, when people go into a stage called ventricular tachycardia, then pacemakers are implanted to give a shock to the heart. In the case of heart attacks, this risk of ventricular tachycardia is high, which could be very dangerous and also cause death.

What are the Major Benefits of Pacemakers?

Mostly, people ignore common symptoms such as dizziness, often fainting, light-headedness, and many others. One of these symptoms may be a reason for the malfunctioning of the heart. So, with early diagnosis, a pacemaker can help in normalizing heart rates to function well. A lot more benefits of pacemakers are listed below:

• A pacemaker helps in slowing down the risk of complete heart failure, by pausing the progression of the disease. It helps in reducing the requirement of being hospitalized.
• If anyone is diagnosed with a higher risk of ventricular tachycardia, a pacemaker can be a life-saver. It can prevent your heart from getting into ventricular fibrillation, which is the leftover way to save one’s life when your ventricles get out of sync.   
• Sometimes, immediate treatment is required to sustain life, and without a heart, the rest organs cannot work. A pacemaker is the immediate treatment option whose success rate is also high.
• In addition, though every surgery possesses risks, implantation of a pacemaker has lower risks. In a long run, out of ten, one might have some infection issues or some problems in the leads of the pacemaker.

Future Landscape of the Pacemaker Market

With the increasing frequency of cardiovascular diseases worldwide and the growing development and launching of new pacemaker products, the global pacemaker market is expected to observe an inclining growth in the near future. The market is expected to generate a revenue of $6,447.5 million and rise at a CAGR of 5.5% over the estimated timeframe from 2021-2028. However, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the market has experienced a negative impact, because of delaying in the heart disease treatment.

Pacemaker: A True Life-Saver

Researchers say that a pacemaker is a boon for people having heart problems. They say, if someone is having a pacemaker and is diagnosed with other unrelated conditions of the heart, such as cancer, then the pacemaker will help in extending the years of the patient’s life. With continuous research and development in the innovation of new pacemaker products, it can be expected that human life can be protected effectively from the severity of heart disorders.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.