• Question: If one part of the heart stops working how long will you live? Is there any cure or are you sure to die?

    Asked by ashu2005 to Ajay, Kate, Kuntal, Pip, Reka on 10 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by Abi_256.
    • Photo: Reka Nagy

      Reka Nagy answered on 10 Nov 2016:

      You kind of need your heart to work properly to be able to live. If your heart starts failing, you need to find a replacement and replace your heart with this, through a process known as a heart transplant.

      What your heart does is ensure that blood circulates around your body, taking oxygen to your organs and collecting the waste that they produce. So if this blood flow is maintained, you could actually live without a heart. Actually, there are people who do, they are connected to machines that circulate their blood while they weight for a suitable heart donor.

      There is one person who took this one step further, though. He carries such a device on his back, and lives without a heart. He walks around, and even plays basketball like this! Watch his story here

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