{"id":240381,"date":"2024-07-30T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=240381"},"modified":"2024-07-30T15:25:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T15:25:20","slug":"va-leading-the-way-the-first-pacemaker-to-groundbreaking-surgeries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=240381","title":{"rendered":"VA Leading the Way: The first pacemaker to groundbreaking surgeries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For 79 years, VA has delivered innovative health care to America\u2019s Veterans. VA researchers developed the cardiac pacemaker and the nicotine patch, and VA surgeons performed the first successful liver transplant. VA continues to lead the way in health care innovation and was recently named one of <a href=\"https:\/\/federalnewsnetwork.com\/federal-newscast\/2024\/05\/va-earns-top-honor-for-medical-research\/#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Veterans%20Affairs%20has%20earned%20a,top%2010%20rising%20research%20institutions%20in%20North%20America.\">the top 10 rising research institutions<\/a> in North America.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image hd-bcve-wrapper hd-bcve-wrapper-js is--youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\" data-id=\"4UDQ9DRqb6s\">\n\t\t<button class=\"play-button\" aria-label=\"Play video\"><\/button><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-shortcode\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"VA is Leading the Way with Access to Innovative Health Technology\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4UDQ9DRqb6s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The first cardiac pacemaker<\/h2>\n<p>In 1960, VA researchers\u2014led by Dr. William Chardack of Buffalo VA\u2014created the cardiac pacemaker, a small electronic device that can be implanted in a patient\u2019s chest to help stabilize abnormal heart rhythms. Chardack described the original pacemaker as a \u201cbattery-operated gadget about twice as big as a spool of Scotch tape and much the same shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2-Dr.-Chardack-and-team-working-on-cardiac-pacemaker_r1-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"432\" height=\"301\" src=\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2-Dr.-Chardack-and-team-working-on-cardiac-pacemaker_r1-1.jpg?w=432\" alt=\"VA doctor and pacemaker\" class=\"wp-image-133496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2-Dr.-Chardack-and-team-working-on-cardiac-pacemaker_r1.jpg,244 350w, https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2-Dr.-Chardack-and-team-working-on-cardiac-pacemaker_r1-1.jpg 432w\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dr. Chardack and his team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although surgical techniques and pacemaker technologies evolved over the years, the basic design <a href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/100-objects\/object-5-cardiac-pacemaker\/\">remains similar to the device<\/a> introduced to the medical world by Chardack and his collaborators in 1960.<\/p>\n<p>Today, VA offers state-of-the-art pacemakers to Veteran patients, including one of the newest pacemaker designs, the dual-chamber leadless pacemaker technology. The leadless system consists of two tiny pacemakers, each smaller than a AAA battery, inserted via a catheter in a large vein in the thigh and secured in the upper and lower heart chambers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/Encyclopedia\/3,82049\">Living a full, healthy life<\/a> is possible with a pacemaker. Learn more about pacemakers and how those in need of one can prepare for the procedure at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov\/DiseasesConditions\/HeartBloodVessel\/3,82031\">Pacemakers | Veterans Affairs (va.gov)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Veteran receives dual-chamber pacemaker<\/h2>\n<p>More than three million Americans live with pacemakers. One of those Americans is Air Force Veteran Bryce De Witt, a healthy father of four. In 2022, at 35, he began to experience heart palpitations. After consistently being dismissed by providers who labeled his symptoms as anxiety, DeWitt was urged to visit his local VA in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey took me very seriously. It was VA that got me on the right track,\u201d he said. De Witt\u2019s doctor told him that he, \u201cShould\u2019ve received a pacemaker 11 months ago.\u201d Right away, his provider scheduled him for a pacemaker surgery.<\/p>\n<p>While the pacemaker De Witt received addressed the problems with the upper chamber of his heart, he required a second pacemaker to fix the problems in the lower chamber of his heart. The two pacemakers work together to normalize the heart\u2019s rhythm. This procedure was only offered at a few hospitals in the country at the time, including the Michael E. DeBakey VA in Houston.<\/p>\n<p>Read the story of how De Witt\u2019s VA doctors collaborated to get him the care he needed at <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/131766\/two-doctors-2000-miles-apart\/\">Two doctors\u2026 2,000 miles apart \u2013 VA News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There are four ways to apply for VA health care: Online, by phone, by mail or in-person. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.choose.va.gov\/health?utm_source=bing&amp;utm_medium=paid_search&amp;utm_campaign=ar_pact_hc_oy4&amp;utm_content=non_branded\">VA\u2019s health care website<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For 79 years, VA has delivered innovative health care to America\u2019s Veterans. VA researchers developed the cardiac pacemaker and the nicotine patch, and VA surgeons performed the first successful liver transplant. VA continues to lead the way in health care innovation and was recently named one of the top 10 rising research institutions in North [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":240383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,64,1087],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-inside-veterans-health","category-leading-the-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=240381"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240388,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240381\/revisions\/240388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/240383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=240381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=240381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=240381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}