Go ahead, laugh.

Most people do when they first see a new procedure for people with coronary artery disease.

At first it looks like a form of shock therapy, but EECP, enhanced external counterpulsation, actually uses squeezing of the legs to send more blood to the heart.

The Food and Drug Administration and Medicare have approved the procedure and it is changing people's lives, according to NBC 10 News health reporter Cherie Bank.

One man even called it a new beginning.

Cardiologists say that EECP is a noninvasive, painless, safe therapy that is effective in promoting blood flow to the heart muscle in people who have coronary artery disease.

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Put The Squeeze On Heart Disease

There was a time when Richard Unger could not even walk across the room without having chest pain.

At only 36 he had a heart attack and emergency bypass surgery, then angioplasty, stents, rotablade and laser surgery.

Unger said that only EECP has given him enough relief to be able to spend quality time with his 9-year-old son.

The theory is that squeezing of the legs stimulates microscopic arteries, called collateral arteries, to grow and bypass blocked arteries, sending more blood to the heart, sort of like a natural bypass.

"With good blood flow to your heart, the symptoms of angina lessen or even are eliminated," said Dr. Debra Braverman, a cardiac rehabilitation specialist. "Basically you're able to maintain an active lifestyle without symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath or fatigue.

The patients wear what amounts to blood pressure cuffs and then they are also connected to EKGs that trigger the cuffs to squeeze the patient's legs in sync with their heartbeats.

Braverman said that patients come five days a week for seven weeks. Each treatments lasts an hour and she has found the procedure is 75 to 80 percent successful.

EECP is being shown at centers like Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins, and the hospitals report that doing EECP therapy allows their patients to reduce or eliminate their symptoms of angina, reduce or eliminate their use of nitroglycerin altogether, and improve their stress tests.

Even some conservative cardiologists say EECP is a promising therapy, but they would like to see more studies. Unger and others say they are certain that EECP puts the squeeze on heart disease.

Related Resources

Vital Heart has three cardiac treatment centers in the Philadephia area.

Call (877) 9-CARDIAC (or 877-922-7342)

www.vitalheart.net

Vital Heart Locations:

1740 South St.
Suite 305
Philadelphia, PA 19146

700 Cottman Ave.
Bldg. B Suite 110
Philadelphia, PA 19111

1060 North Kings Hwy
Suite 110
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

For more on the procedure visit the Mayo Clinic's Web site: www.mayo.edu/comm/mcr/news_959.html

EECP is also performed by:

Dr. James O'Neil
2051 Briggs Rd.
Mount. Laurel, NJ
(856) 234-3332

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
1600 Haddon Ave.
Camden, NJ,
(856) 580-6309