External Counter Pulsation Therapy (ECP) is a non-invasive procedure that helps stimulate the growth of new blood vessels in the heart and, in some cases, improves the flow of existing blood vessels. ECP may also be used in addition to bypass surgery and angioplasty to enhance the benefits of these two procedures.
Why try ECP Therapy?
Over the course of the aging process, people typically become less physically active resulting in weaker heart muscle while simultaneously increasing blockages in your blood vessels leading back to the heart. In response, your body naturally copes with this change by growing tiny collateral blood vessels in an attempt to assist the area of the heart that is slowly losing access (flow) to oxygenated blood. The problem with these collateral vessels is not that they exist, but rather that they never get a chance to properly develop (open up to deliver blood to that part of the heart muscle). This lack of development occurs because most people become less physically active with age. And that is where ECP Therapy can be an ideal treatment.
How does ECP work?
The physical mechanism of ECP delivers oxygenated blood to every vital organ of the body where arterial blockage may exist. Including the arteries leading to your lungs, kidneys, liver, brain, and to those in your outer extremities.
ECP restores pathways for adequate and necessary blood flow back to the heart through vessels that already exist! Think of it like adding extra lanes on a congested highway with land that already exists. All of the vehicles on the road can transport their valuable contents to the necessary location with much less congestion. . In this case, this would refer to oxygenated nutrient-rich blood to your heart with much less congestion.
If you’d like to learn more about ECP, check out these two previous podcast episodes all about heart health:
The Voice of Health with Dr. Robert Prather: “How to Treat Heart Disease without Drugs or Surgery:”
The Voice of Health with Dr. Robert Prather: “Congestive Heart Failure and How to Reverse it:”
