Defibrillators Help Patients Live Longer, Better

A new study shows that defibrillators - devices designed to detect and correct dangerous heart rhythms - can help people with heart disease live longer, and with a much better quality of life, than they do now. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that a small, very simple change in the way physicians set or programmed the device dramatically reduced unnecessary or inappropriate shocks and increased patient survival.