Data From More Than 100,000 Boston Scientific Implantable Defibrillators Show Battery Longevity Projections Of Nine To …

NATICK, Mass., May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --New data from 100,438 patients with Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) followed in the LATITUDE Patient Management System demonstrate the battery life of Boston Scientific single-chamber ICDs, dual-chamber ICDs and CRT-Ds are projected to last an average of 13.2, 11.5 and 9.2 years, respectively.[1]

"Clinical studies show early device replacement brings an increased risk of infection and complications,[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7]" said Joe Fitzgerald, president, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Boston Scientific. "A nine-year average projected longevity of our CRT-Ds reflects our commitment to quality and engineering excellence. Our advances in device longevity also help reduce healthcare costs through fewer replacement surgeries due to battery depletion."

Introduced in 2008, the Boston Scientific current devices are the world's thinnest ICDs and CRT-Ds, with nearly twice the industry-standard battery capacity. In addition, the Boston Scientific INCEPTA CRT-D and ENERGEN ICD offer the industry's longest warranty, lasting up to 10 years for some models.[8]

"While device longevity is vital to customers and patients, we believe reliability is equally important," said Kenneth Stein, M.D., chief medical officer, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Boston Scientific. "We have paired our long-lasting ICDs and CRT-Ds with the RELIANCE defibrillator lead, which was designed to address the common issues facing ICD leads. The reliability of the Boston Scientific ENDOTAK RELIANCE defibrillator lead family is unmatched in the industry."

The ENDOTAK RELIANCE family of leads has nearly twenty years of proven performance. In fact, the ENDOTAK RELIANCE family of leads has a 98.5 percent survival probability at 10 years[9] which is better than the five-year or less survival probability of commonly used competitors' leads[10],[11]. The foundation of the reliability of the ENDOTAK RELIANCE has been its integrated bipolar design, abrasion-resistant silicone insulation and the unique GORE ePTFE coating that only Boston Scientific offers to patients and their physicians.

"The longer we can keep patients out of the hospital the better," added Dr. Stein. "The combination of industry-leading device longevity coupled with lead reliability provides a tangible benefit to patients. This is yet another example of our commitment to meaningful innovation and providing solutions that improve patient quality of life."

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 30 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information, visit http://www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "intend" and similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding product performance and impact, our business plans and competitive offerings. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

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Data From More Than 100,000 Boston Scientific Implantable Defibrillators Show Battery Longevity Projections Of Nine To ...

Exceptional longevity may delay Alzheimer's disease

A Chinese woman escorts an elderly woman in front of a Nike advertisement outside a shopping mall in Beijing. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)

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NEW YORK, May 9 (UPI) -- Families with exceptional longevity appear to have delayed onset of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers say.

Stephanie Cosentino of Columbia University in New York and colleagues examined the cross-sectional study included a total of 1,870 individuals -- 1,510 family members and 360 spouse controls -- recruited through the Long Life Family Study.

The main outcome measure was the prevalence of cognitive impairment based on a diagnostic algorithm validated using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, found the cognitive algorithm classified 38.5 percent as having cognitive impairment consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

Long Life Family Study subjects had a slightly but not statistically significant reduced risk of cognitive impairment compared with spouse controls, whereas Long Life Family Study sons and daughters had a reduced risk of cognitive impairment.

"Overall, our results appear to be consistent with a delayed onset of disease in long-lived families, such that individuals who are part of exceptionally long-lived families are protected but not later in life," the researchers concluded.

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Exceptional longevity may delay Alzheimer's disease

'It's got to be crispy': Woman, 105, says bacon key to longevity

17 hours ago

Oscar Mayer

Texas woman Pearl Cantrell, 105, was given a ride in an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in her hometown after she said eating bacon was a key reason for her long life.

Three slices of bacon a day keep the doctor away.

At least that's been the case for 105-year-old Texas woman Pearl Cantrell, who credits her daily dose of sizzling pork for her longevity.

Hard work and bacon, Cantrell told TODAY.com about her reasons for living a long life. I love bacon. I eat it every day. Its got to be crispy.

Cantrell loves bacon so much that when Oscar Mayer heard of her affinity for it, the company gave her a lifetime supply and took her for a ride in the streets of her hometown of Richland Springs, Texas, in one of its Wienermobiles.

That was so much fun (riding in the Wienermobile)," she said. "And getting all that bacon, I loved that,

This is a small town with 336 people, and everyone was out on the street waving to her, Cantrells daughter, Anno Richards, told TODAY.com. It was a big day for all of us.

Oscar Mayer

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'It's got to be crispy': Woman, 105, says bacon key to longevity

Woman, 105, Reveals Longevity Secret

May 8, 2013 1:22pm

Pearl Cantrell starts her day with a few slices of bacon. ( Getty Images)

At 105, Pearl Cantrell has one healthy habit she swears by: a daily dose of bacon.

Cantrells son Billy Allen, 81, said that along with a morning cup of coffee pudding, or coffee with lots of milk, sugar and a biscuit, the Texas centenarian starts each day with a few pieces of bacon.

Every day she gets up and [today she] said Bill Im ready for my bacon, Allen told ABCNews.com. [She] eats two pieces nearly every morning.

But bacon isnt the centenarians only healthy habit, Allen said his mother was active his whole life. She spent her days in the fields of the family farm in San Saba County, Texas, after Allens father died in the 1940s. After her husbands death she raised her seven children on her own.

Allen said not only was his mother active by picking cotton in the fields during the day, but that she always loved to dance and even waltzed at her 105th birthday for a few dances.

However, it was Cantrells daily routine of eating bacon that grabbed attention of the Oscar Mayer company. The company famous for their meat and cold cut products sent free packages of bacon and hot dogs to Cantrell in honor of the great-grandmothers birthday and even let the great-grandmother ride in the famous Wienermobile through town.

She really enjoyed it. She went all through town and up by the school house, said Allen.

In spite of her longevity, Cantrells habits are not recommended by the medical community for those looking to survive to 105. A study released last year by the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who ate a daily serving of processed meat, equal to two strips of bacon or a hot dog, had a 20 percent increased risk of death.

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Woman, 105, Reveals Longevity Secret

Cognitive impairment in families with exceptional longevity studied

May 6, 2013 A study by Stephanie Cosentino, Ph.D., of Columbia University, New York, and colleagues examines the relationship between families with exceptional longevity and cognitive impairment consistent with Alzheimer disease. (Online First)

The cross-sectional study included a total of 1,870 individuals (1,510 family members and 360 spouse controls) recruited through the Long Life Family Study. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of cognitive impairment based on a diagnostic algorithm validated using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data set.

According to study results, the cognitive algorithm classified 546 individuals (38.5 percent) as having cognitive impairment consistent with Alzheimer disease. Long Life Family Study probands had a slightly but not statistically significant reduced risk of cognitive impairment compared with spouse controls (121 of 232 for probands versus 45 of 103 for spouse controls), whereas Long Life Family Study sons and daughters had a reduced risk of cognitive impairment (11 of 213 for sons and daughters versus 28 of 216 for spouse controls). Restriction to nieces and nephews in the offspring generation attenuated this association (37 of 328 for nieces and nephews versus 28 of 216 for spouse controls).

"Overall, our results appear to be consistent with a delayed onset of disease in long-lived families, such that individuals who are part of exceptionally long-lived families are protected but not later in life," the study concludes.

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Cognitive impairment in families with exceptional longevity studied

Could family longevity protect against dementia?

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The sons and daughters of people who live very long lives tend to get the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease later than others, but they're not immune from the memory-robbing disease, according to a new study.

Based on comparisons of people in their 90s, their spouses, siblings, children and their children's spouses, researchers found that the offspring of people with exceptional longevity were about 40 percent less likely than peers to be cognitively impaired between ages 65 and 79.

"It's not necessarily that these individuals never become cognitively impaired, but what it seems like is that there is a delayed onset of cognitive impairment," said Stephanie Cosentino, of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

By the time the older generation of study volunteers were in their 90s, however, their risk of being cognitively impaired was fairly high.

So Cosentino's team projects that the kids of these long-lived individuals will have the same risk level as their parents if they enjoy similar longevity - that is, they'll no longer be protected.

Loosely defined, longevity means living beyond the average age of death among peers. In the U.S. today, for instance, a 65 year old man can expect to live to age 83, on average, and a woman to age 85.

As life expectancies continue to rise, few have investigated whether that means people live to those old ages cognitively "intact," Cosentino and her colleagues write in JAMA Neurology.

Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed in about 5,000 Americans each year. It's the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 5 million Americans, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Both longevity and dementia risk have some degree of heritability.

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Could family longevity protect against dementia?

Family longevity could lessen instances of dementia

Patients with Alzheimer's and dementia are seen during a therapy session inside the Alzheimer foundation in Mexico City April 19, 2012. ( Edgard Garrido / Reuters)

The sons and daughters of people who live very long lives tend to get the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease later than others, but they're not immune from the memory-robbing disease, according to a new study.

Based on comparisons of people in their 90s, their spouses, siblings, children and their children's spouses, researchers found that the offspring of people with exceptional longevity were about 40 percent less likely than peers to be cognitively impaired between ages 65 and 79.

"It's not necessarily that these individuals never become cognitively impaired, but what it seems like is that there is a delayed onset of cognitive impairment," said Stephanie Cosentino, of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

By the time the older generation of study volunteers were in their 90s, however, their risk of being cognitively impaired was fairly high.

So Cosentino's team projects that the kids of these long-lived individuals will have the same risk level as their parents if they enjoy similar longevity - that is, they'll no longer be protected.

Loosely defined, longevity means living beyond the average age of death among peers. In the U.S. today, for instance, a 65 year old man can expect to live to age 83, on average, and a woman to age 85.

As life expectancies continue to rise, few have investigated whether that means people live to those old ages cognitively "intact," Cosentino and her colleagues write in JAMA Neurology.

Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed in about 5,000 Americans each year. It's the most common form of dementia, affecting more than 5 million Americans, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Both longevity and dementia risk have some degree of heritability.

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Family longevity could lessen instances of dementia

BlackRock CEO Declares Longevity “Defining Challenge of Our Age”

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink today called on government and business leaders to recognize that Americans are woefully unprepared for increasing longevity, and said policymakers should make resolving the resulting retirement funding crisis a national priority.

In a speech to students and faculty at New York University Stern School of Business, Mr. Fink noted the great progress made in achieving longer lifespans but added that this blessing is severely straining resources for governments and individual investors worldwide, and also may be restricting job opportunities for younger people as older people remain in the workforce longer. Click here to view a webcast of Mr. Finks remarks.

Longevity is the defining challenge of our age, said Mr. Fink, who noted that one in four Americans age 65 today is expected to live until the age of 90. He said the traditional mix of retirement funding from Social Security, pensions and personal savings was in the grip of a systemic crisis that is threatening not only retirement systems but also our economic futures.

Because of its far-reaching effects, a solution needs to be as big and urgent a national priority as anything we have faced in recent years. The longer we wait to act, the bigger the problem will become, Mr. Fink said.

To help meet this challenge, Mr. Fink called for a comprehensive solution that, in addition to Social Security, includes some form of mandatory retirement savings, similar to Australias superannuation system or the new National Employment Savings Trust in the UK. Calling for the gradual introduction of such a provision, Mr. Fink said, It would relieve the crisis of financing longevity that will be a drag on our economy and job creation for years to come if we dont deal with it soon.

Mr. Fink also said that corporate America has a moral obligation to help employees prepare for retirement and urged more employers to offer retirement plans, provide matching funds, auto-enroll all employees and educate employees on the absolute necessity of maxing out their plans. He said that BlackRock and other asset managers needed to do a better job of helping prepare savers for retirement. That means much less of a focus on short-term sales and products and more on investors long-term needs, Mr. Fink said.

Mr. Fink spoke as BlackRock published its latest Investor Pulse Survey Investing in a Low-Yield Environment which found that while more than half of respondents fear they will outlive their savings, some 73 percent are more concerned about keeping their savings safe than generating the returns they will need to fund retirements that are now lasting up to three decades or more.

Were not going to change human behavior, but we need to find ways to influence it. Investors dont take a long-term view. They are too concerned about all the noise out there, all the ups and downs in the markets, Mr. Fink said, citing behavioral studies on risk aversion among individual savers.

That noise and the concern people have about outliving their savings are ironically driving investors to investments they perceive to be safer, like traditional bonds, Mr. Fink said. But they should do just the opposite, taking advantage of their longer investment horizon to keep their money working for them.

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BlackRock CEO Declares Longevity “Defining Challenge of Our Age”