Richard Brunson has been at Rochester General wrapped up in a sweatsuit for almost two hours. But this is no ordinary sweatsuit, and he says it feels like being at West Virginia beach, sitting outside in a recliner, in 116-degree weather.
“I'm experiencing the heat and the sweating. Let's see how much body fluid I lose,” Brunson said.
Rochester General is testing a new treatment therapy, recently approved in Israel, that works by making patients with chronic heart failure sweat. This was Brunson's first day participating in the hospital's clinical trial.
Experts said patients with chronic heart conditions often retain water weight due to poor blood circulation. As of today, diuretics, through pill or IV injection, are the only approved treatment for removing some of the fluid buildup.
“You’re peeing all day long, and it gets frustrating,” Brunson said. “But it does take the fluid out, and it drops your weight.”
The sauna treatment, developed by AquaPass, requires the patient to wear a heat adjustable sweatsuit for a few hours a day. Nurses pop in periodically to check vitals. Experts said this treatment provides a less bothersome alternative.
“Unfortunately, in different patients for different reasons, diuretics either don't work acutely or don't work over a period of time, "said Dr. Scott Feitell, director of heart failure at RGH. "Some patients develop diuretic resistance or simply just don't respond."
He said that the suit can limit the dependence on diuretics, which can have adverse effects on the kidneys.
“Traditionally, with heart failure, the only way to remove fluid is through the kidneys... This suit really uses the skin kind of like an extra organ to remove (water) volume,” Feitell said.
The trial is still enrolling participants. Feitell said he anticipates the research will wrap up by the end of summer.
