With positive outcomes following cardiac arrest so unlikely, a great deal of effort has been spent in finding effective strategies to prevent cardiac arrest.
As noted above, one of the prime causes of cardiac arrest outside of hospital is ischemic heart disease. Vast resources have been put into trying to reduce cardiovascular risks across much of the developed world. In particular schemes have been put in place to promote a healthy diet and exercise. For people considered to be particularly at risk of heart disease, measures such as blood pressure control, prescription of cholesterol lowering medications, and other medico-therapeutic interventions, have been widely used. A magnesium deficiency, or lower levels of magnesium, can contribute to heart disease and a healthy diet that contains adequate magnesium may help prevent heart disease. Magnesium can be used to enhance long term treatment, so it may be effective in long term prevention.
Extensive research has shown that patients in general wards often deteriorate for several hours or even days before a cardiac arrest occurs. This has been attributed to a lack of knowledge and skill amongst ward based staff, in particular a failure to carry out measurement of the respiratory rate, which is often the major predictor of a deterioration An accompanying editorial by Simpson explores some of the economic, geographic, social and political reasons for this. Patients who are most likely to benefit from the placement of an ICD are those with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy (with systolic ejection fractions less than 30%) as demonstrated by the MADIT-II trial.
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