Pacemakers are used to control the heartbeat. They are generally used with patients who have a low or irregular heartbeat. They can also be used to treat heart failure. According to Gerard Abate, the Baropace pacemaker goes a step beyond traditional pacemakers, to regulate heart rate based on blood pressure.

How Common are Pacemakers?

Today, over 3 million people around the world have a pacemaker. Over 600,000 are implanted each year. Most people with a pacemaker are 60 or over. However, pacemakers can be used for people of any age, including children.

How Pacemakers Work

A pacemaker is a device that is implanted in the chest under the skin. It’s a minor surgery. The pacemaker can be temporary or permanent. The heart is essentially a pump, with four chambers. Electrical impulses are sent to the heart by the brain. These impulses cause the heart to contract, or pump.

Gerard Abate states that a pacemaker controls heart rate by sending electrical pulses similar to those sent by the brain. This keeps your heart rate steady and ensures the body is getting enough blood flow.

Newer pacemakers have sensors that detect movement and breathing rate, allowing the pacemaker to speed up the heart during exercise or physical activity.

The Baropace Difference

Pacemakers have come a long way since their invention in the 1930s. Medical and technological advances have led to pacemakers that can sense activity level and adjust the heart rate accordingly, says Gerard Abate from Palm Coast, Florida.

BaroPace is the first technology that, based on a patient’s blood pressure reading that is above normal range, then will utilize a proprietary AI algorithm, PressurePace, to optimize pacing heart rate and modulate blood pressure downward.

For about 25% of people on blood pressure-lowering medications, medication doesn’t lower blood pressure enough. This is known as drug-resistant hypertension. Drug resistant hypertension increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure and stroke.

Symptoms of high blood pressure include headaches, shortness of breath, nose bleeds and chest pain. However, high blood pressure is often a silent condition. This means many patients have few or no symptoms. High blood pressure is often diagnosed during a routine doctor visit.

Gerard Abate

Gerard Abate is part of the Baropace team. He is the Director for Regulatory Affairs. He has spent over 30 years in the first part of his career was as a cardiologist. He then moved on to work with pharmaceutical companies and played a role in the development of four new drugs. He’s now a medical consultant, and works with professionals and companies within the industry.