Artificial Hearts: Controversies, Ethical Dilemmas, and Transforming the Landscape of Heart Failure Treatment

Introduction

Heart failure has remained one of the chronic diseases that has claimed numerous lives in the past decades. With the increase in chronic diseases, heart failure has been a common disease that has been slowly claimed numerous victims, regardless of their size, gender, ethnicity, or even their social status. As a result, heart failure has been deemed as a death sentence for many, especially those without a stable income to cater for the treatment plans. However, the advancement in technology in the medical field has reshaped how heart failures are being handled or mitigated to guarantee life once more. According to Scully et al. (2017), artificial hearts have widely played a vital role in giving hope to the patients, and their families, especially considering the complexity and the threat of heart failure. In this case, artificial hearts have reshaped the medical field, helping to curb premature or unnecessary deaths associated with heart failure. Therefore, the essay seeks to elucidate the controversies and ethical issues surrounding the implementation of artificial hearts in the quest to fight the increase in heart failures across the globe.

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Is This Something That is Going too Far in Treatment?

The History of organ transfer in the medical field has been widely practiced, especially considering the impact it has on patients. Numerous organ transfers such as kidney transfer have been on the horizon, especially considering the complexity and role of the kidney. Even though there have been numerous successful organ transfers, Kidney transfer accounts for more than 54% of the successful organ transfers across the world (Beasley et al., 2020). Nevertheless, the process is complicated and cumbersome, especially considering that the patient and the donor's kidney should match for the transfer to be successful. Despite these two limitations, heart failure opens a different chapter in the context of organ transfer.

Unlike other organ transfers, which may be obtained from donors, and even the donors proceed with their everyday life, heart transfer remains a complicated procedure, especially considering that an individual possesses a single heart. Therefore, this calls for a single artificial heart to be implanted in the quest to replace a damaged one. Therefore, the controversy surrounding artificial heart transfer must be accessed from a different perspective, especially considering that heart transfer using another human heart may be tricky or even result in a donor's death.

According to AFP News Agency (2015), the artificial heart is geared towards replacing the damaged heart in the quest to give life. Therefore, every heart transfer procedure remains to be involved and dangerous as well. In this case, using an artificial heart, which is not human, but made in contrast to a human heart, is not considered a going beyond medical boundaries, but rather an adopted concept to help to give life to patients.

Since the process of obtaining a human heart is not possible, implanting an artificial heart remains the most suitable concept to help reduce suffering or deaths from heart failure. In this case, an artificial heart is an ultimate choice, since both the donor and the patient possess one heart, which may be cumbersome to conduct the transfer. In this case, the artificial heart remains the only choice in addressing heart failure.

Does This Make Someone Less Human?

There are numerous challenges and downsides of using an artificial heart, especially considering that the heart has to use automatic backup batteries that last between five to six hours. On the contrary, the artificial heart is also limited in numerous ways, such as its life span, reduced to five years. On the contrary, artificial hearts are forced to trade-off numerous functions that are carried by the human heart, which makes the person be regarded as less human. The heart and brain bond using the chemical and nervous system, which responds to different elements in the body, such as feeling and compassionate. The change in the chemical bond between the heart and the brain triggers a shift in how a person feels. However, the artificial heart makes a considerable trade-off when it comes to this coordination, where the primary focus of the artificial heart is geared towards blood circulation.

Artificial hearts have a fair share of its downsides, especially considering the possibilities of malfunctioning, blood clothing, and higher possibilities of infections associated with the heart. Even though the artificial heart does not fully reciprocate on infections, the heart serves to pounce blood. In this case, any infection in the heart continues to circulate without any regulation affecting the patient.

On the contrary, David et al. (2020) outlined that patients with artificial hearts as the permanent solution to heart failure are exposed to a mixture of reactions, affecting how one interacts with the surrounding and the people around. Nearly 67% of the patients with artificial heart record poor reciprocation of their feeling, depicting poor interaction behavior with society (David et al., 2020). More so, they feel neglected and less human, since a more significant part of them is missing. However, from the medial point of view, the entire practice does not limit the patient or reduce them to fewer humans. Therefore, this is considered as a way of giving life back. In this case, the patient is given a second chance to live and continue a healthy life.

Does the quality of life need to be considered?

Artificial hearts require the mimicking of the original organ and how it performs to help bring change in humans. However, some of the trade-offs are forced to be considered in the quest to ensure that the primary objective of the heart is achieved. As a result, patients' quality of life is not highly considered, which helps to develop a simple organ to help pump the blood. Even though artificial hearts have been considered as a life-changing opportunity, there is a more significant consideration of life, especially considering the possible deaths that may be associated with the malfunctioning of the artificial heart. In this case, it is essential to consider the changes the artificial heart will impose on the patient. According to David et al. (2020), out of 22 patients implanted with an artificial heart in the 2012 search, nearly 52% of the population died, after a few months of recovery, bringing to our attention the need to consider the quality of life offered by the new technology. As a result, it is essential to consider the results or impact of an artificial heart on the patient and how it will change their lives.

Honoring God through Artificial Heart. Considering the ethical point of view, recreating human life is one of the violations of healthcare ethics, where doctors and surgeons undertake the role of God in recreating. More so, the act is deemed as an act of replacing God's work, through preventing deaths through ways of modifying or implanting artificial hearts to offer life.

According to Mahmood and Al-Azhari, (2018), no religion has formally forbidden or argued against organ transfer, and so does the artificial hearts. Most religions support life and procreation, which marks the continuation of God's works in different forms. Even though ethical considerations are brought forth, mainly where a dead donor's organs are used for transplantation. Some of the communities such, as the Roma Gypsies, Shintoists, and Native Americans, positively forbid the transfer of organs from deceased donors (Beasley et al., 2020). Tradition and religion forbid the transfer or modification of the dead. As a result, this has been objected by numerous religions in the quest for respecting the living, the dead, and the living dead.

However, turning the cover on the Christian religion, artificial organ transfer is considered diversely to continue God's work. Artificial hearts limit deaths and prevent the concept of obtaining the organ from a deceased donor. In this case, the work tends to respect the dead and care from the living by adopting a concept that helps improve the lives of the patients. Organ donation in the religious perspective is deemed as an act of love, extended to the patient. Love and caring are among the central part of God's work. However, due to the limitation of organs in the human body, artificial organ transfer helps extend the nature of love and God's work. In this case, artificial heart transfer may be deemed as a way of honoring God's work, since it follows similar functioning and design of His work.

Conclusion

Artificial heart transfer has brought numerous benefits in medicine, especially considering the limitation of heart transfer, in terms of the organ number and its durability. The artificial heart has played a vital role in ensuring that patients can undergo a successful heart transfer to save their lives. Despite numerous ethical considerations on organ transfers, there are not objecting religions that object to implementing artificial organs to save a life. Therefore, the concept has been widely accepted due to its role in saving lives.

References

AFP News Agency. (2015). Artificial hearts [Video]. Retrieved 29 September 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtBHVj3Tsn8&feature=youtu.be.

Beasley, G. S., Allen, K., Pahl, E., Jackson, L., Eltayeb, O., Monge, M., ... & Thrush, P. (2020). Successful Bridge to Transplant in a Pediatric Patient Using the SynCardia 50 cc Total Artificial Heart. Asaio Journal, 66(2), e33-e35.doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000000968

David, C. H., Lacoste, P., Nanjaiah, P., Bizouarn, P., Lepoivre, T., Michel, M., ... & Al Habash, O. (2020). A heart transplant after total artificial heart support: initial and long-term results. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezaa261

Mahmood, A., & Al-Azhari, Z. U. (2018). Human Organ Transplantation in the light of Semitic religions. Abha'th, 3(12), 16. http://lgu.edu.pk/research/images/pdf/islamic-studies/volume-3-issue-4/eng/2%20Human%20Organ%20Transplantation.pdf

Scully, M. S., Wessman, D. E., McKee, J. M., Francisco, G. M., Nayak, K. R., & Kobashigawa, J. A. (2017). Total artificial heart implantation as a bridge to heart transplantation in an active duty service member with amyloid cardiomyopathy. Military Medicine, 182(3-4), e1858-e1860.doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-16-00122