Got this in an email

[Halaljello]

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is there any possible medical benefit in this? we just did cardio and this email didnt make much sense to me



HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE.
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing conscious. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.

 

[aphistis]

That's cracked on so many levels it's hard to count. For one thing, it's talking about arrhythmias, not MIs. Second, air pressure in your lungs isn't going to get your blood circulating anywhere. Third, heart rate is controlled electrically, not mechanically, so lung pressure won't help there either. And on and on.

 

[tkim]

This is known as 'cough CPR'.

http://chapters.redcross.org/nh/nashua/coughcpr.html

"The American Heart Association does not endorse "cough CPR," a coughing procedure widely publicized on the Internet. As noted in the American Heart Association's textbook Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers, the American Heart Association DOES NOT TEACH THIS AS PART OF THE CORE CURRICULUM IN ANY COURSE.

During a sudden arrhythmia (ah-RITH'me-ah) (abnormal heart rhythm), it may be possible for a conscious, responsive person to cough forcefully and maintain enough blood flow to the brain to remain conscious for a few seconds until the arrhythmia disappears or is treated. Blood flow is maintained by increased pressure in the chest that occurs during forceful coughs. This has been mislabeled "cough CPR," although it's not a form of traditional resuscitation."

Use and effectiveness are narrow and debateable.

Bottom line: always employ healthy skepticism.

 

[conure]

This sounds like a descripton of the Val Salva maneuver to me. I don't know much about it, perhaps someone else with more cardio expertise can advise.

My understanding is that you increase intra thoracic preasure by forcefully exhaling with the vocal cords closed. Like for example, when one pushes during a bowel movement. The increased preasure does "squeeze" heart. I thought this was only good for atrial "flutter" and not full blown fibrilation. I think its effects during acute MI would not be as beneficial.

 

[ckent]

It sounds like the same theory behind giving a precordial thump for getting people out of an arrhythmia. Supposedly, there was a case of someone using a bathroom plunger to get his mother through an MI/arrhythmia because the push down gave the thump while the plunger/suction inflated the lungs, similarly to the probable cough mechanism. There have been studies looking at using tools similar to toilet plungers, but I don't think that any of them have really been successful at creating something more efficacious then old fashioned CPR.

 

[LovelyRita]

It's a pretty narrow window between the time you might recognize that you're having a serious problem and when you remember that email that someone sent you once. 😱

M.