artificial hearts

• artificial hearts are mechanical devices that pump blood for a person, who's own heart has failed
• artificial hearts are used as a temporary fix - to keep a person alive until a donor heart is available
• artificial hearts can be used to help a person recover by allowing the heart to rest and heal
• sometimes the artificial heart is used as a permanent fix - which reduces the need for a donor heart
• the main advantage of artificial hearts is that they are less likely to be rejected by the body's immune system than a donor heart.
• artificial hearts are less likely to be rejected because they are made form metals or plastics - the body doesn't recognise it as foreign and attack in the same as it does with living tissue
• surgery to fit an artificial heart can lead to bleeding and infection
• artificial hearts don't work as efficiently as natural hearts - parts if the heart could wear out or the electric motor could fail
• blood doesn't flow through as smoothly which can cause blood clots and lead to strokes
• the patient has to take drugs to thin their blood and to make sure their blood doesn't clot