Patent ID: 7689286

Claim:
A system, comprising: means for providing cardioprotective therapy to treat heart disease through modulation of an Akt-mediated pathway, wherein the means for providing cardioprotective therapy to treat heart disease includes both means for providing cardioprotective myocardial pacing therapy to modulate the Akt-mediated pathway, and means for providing cardioprotective neural stimulation therapy to elicit a parasympathetic response to modulate the Akt-mediated pathway, wherein the means for providing cardioprotective myocardial pacing therapy includes means for delivering a programmed myocardial pacing sequence to modulate the Akt-mediated pathway, wherein the means for delivering the programmed myocardial pacing sequence includes means for initiating and timing a sequence of myocardial pacing pulses, wherein the programmed myocardial pacing sequence includes alternating pacing periods with a programmed pacing duration and non-pacing periods with a programmed non-pacing duration, wherein each pacing period in the programmed myocardial pacing sequence includes the timed sequence of myocardial pacing pulses delivered to a myocardium for the duration of each of the pacing periods and not delivering myocardial pacing pulses during each of the non-pacing periods.