The heart is the first organ to form—starting to throb approximately three weeks into fetal development, even before there is blood to pump—and life ends when its beat ceases for good. From birth until death in humans, the heart beats approximately three billion times. The amount of work it performs is mind-boggling. Each heartbeat generates enough force to circulate blood through approximately 100,000 miles of vessels. The amount of blood that passes through an average adult heart in a week could fill a backyard swimming pool.
So when the heart fails, the body fails. Patients with heart failure often live in an enervated state, a shadow of their former selves. Every year more than half a million Americans develop congestive heart failure, in which the heart weakens or stiffens to the point where it cannot properly pump blood to meet the metabolic demands of the body. The symptoms of end-stage ...
