Jennifer Matthews: It was just like any other day for Betty Alexander
Betty Alexander: We got up, drank coffee, read the paper, had breakfast.
Jennifer Matthews: Then she had a heart attack.
Betty Alexander: I had never had any heart history. We have eaten what I thought was heart healthy for quite some time -- many years -- and so this was a complete surprise.
Jennifer Matthews: Today, Betty is recovering well, thanks, in part, to an experimental treatment. It cools the body to 91 degrees directly following a heart attack.
Dr. Warren Johnson: It helps protect the heart muscle while we're getting the arteries open and also provides the heart with some additional recovery time.
Jennifer Matthews: During a heart attack, the heart continues to suffer damage until the blocked arteries are re-opened. Dr. Johnson says, by cooling the body intravenously, they can preserve more of a patient's heart muscle. Early studies show, on average, the amount of tissue death in the heart was nearly 60-percent less in patients who received the treatment.
Dr. Warren Johnson: This is a new novel idea for treating heart attack patients that I think is going to make a big difference in many of our patients.
Jennifer Matthews: Betty says she feels better now than she did before her heart attack. Still, she's not taking chances.
Betty Alexander: There are things that I want to do and I don't want to wait to do them. I want to do them as soon as possible.
Jennifer Matthews: This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.