New technique may save stroke, cardiac arrest patients

MANILA, Philippines — With reports of people getting sick in the country due to dangerous heat index levels brought by the El Nino phenomenon, a renowned doctor from the United States suggested an inexpensive technique to treat people suffering from severe illnesses.

Dr. Joseph Varon, who was in the Philippines last week for a series of lectures, said the technique, therapeutic hypothermia, has been proven to be an effective method in saving patients who have suffered stroke and cardiac arrest.

Varon said the technique, which was once applied by physicians in the Philippines, is effective in reducing the swelling in a person’s brain due to oxygen deprivation after suffering from a stroke or heart attack.

“In order to avoid brain injury, one of the things that we do is to cool down patients,” he explained.

To do this, they normally drop a patient’s temperature to as low as 32 degrees Celsius for a period of 24 to 72 hours depending on the severity of the brain swelling.

Varon said doctors in private hospitals in the Philippines used to practice therapeutic hypothermia over a decade ago, although the interest in the process dwindled due to studies that have shown no need to lower a person’s temperature to 32 degrees Celsius.

But for Varon, the method is effective, having tried it himself when he had a stroke 10 years ago, noting that Filipino doctors are also capable of using the technique for their patients.

“I have worked with some of the best doctors in the Philippines in the past and I know they can do a good job,” he said.

Varon recounted having done the technique himself on a man who had a near-death experience after drowning in a beach in Mexico in 2005.

“When they got him out of the water, they started doing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) for two hours until they got him into a clinic in the middle of nowhere,” he said in an interview on Tuesday night.

He recounted having picked up the patient and flying him in a private plane to a hospital in the US. At the hospital, Varon used buckets of ice and blankets to lower the man’s temperature to 32 degrees Celsius for 72 hours.

Varon said the victim had a miracle because, despite the severity of his condition, he survived his ordeal.

“After 72 hours, I rewarmed him and he wakes up completely,” he recalled.

The therapeutic hypothermia technique might also save lives in the country.

In Quezon City, three senior citizens and a man in his 30s died in what probers are looking into as possible cases of heat stroke. Among them was a 72-year-old woman and her 37-year-old nephew who were found dead in their home in Barangay Greater Lagro last Wednesday.

Also last Monday, an 82-year-old man and his 64-year-old housemaid were found dead in a condominium unit in Barangay Kristong Hari.

There were no signs of forced entry or robbery in both cases. No signs of external injuries were seen on the four victims, which prompted probers to theorize they died due to extreme heat conditions.