Cooling Treatments For Cardiac Care

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - They are called cooling treatments or hypothermic treatments. It sounds somewhat interesting and you are probably thinking that I am about to embark on some story focusing on relaxation meditation and vacation fun. Far from the truth.

Cooling or hypothermic treatment is actually a technique being used at many hospitals for people with cardiac issues. In fact emergency medical transports teams are bringing patients to certain hospitals that can provide this. Cooling treatments actually can help reduce brain damage in certain patients and studies are showing that hospitals that are able to provide this in a matter of moments are actually in some ways better off than others.

This is not to say that hospitals that don't provide it are not prepared for a cardiac emergency but cooling is one of those treatments that is rapidly being embraced by many.