• Question: I know two kids who have a heart problem and their heart work with "batteries" that have to be changed every some years. How do this batteries work and help?

    Asked by Andreajalo to Cristina, Gemma, Praveen on 19 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Cristina Villa del Campo

      Cristina Villa del Campo answered on 19 Nov 2015:

      Hi Andreajalo,

      Thanks for your question! What happens is our heart has a natural pacemaker we are born with that tells it when it needs to beat. It is a great organ that works without us having to think about it! Sometimes for different reasons this natural pacemaker doesn’t work and the heart beats when it wants to. This is not good because it can make the cells need more oxygen that what they get. That’s why people get connected to these “batteries” that make sure the heart beats regularly. When kids need to have them, every several years they need changing because their hearts keep on growing so need batteries are needed to keep up with the size of the heart!

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