Study Demonstrates That Acupuncture Useful for Heart Problems

 

Acupuncture and Chinese herbology are frequently used together to treat various types of heart disease and dysfunction and many cardiac issues are treated here, at the Northside Holistic Center. Occasionally an interesting study or report will be published which illustrates the utility of this approach. Presented here are a smattering of those studies, added to as I come across them.

A recent Chinese study found that acupuncture was useful in preventing heart damage from a drug commonly used as an anti-nausea agent, droperidol. The research, which can be read about here, found that: 

[While] droperidol is used for the treatment of postoperative and chemotherapy related nausea and vomiting but may cause heart dysfunction. Researchers speculate that the cardioprotective mechanisms of electroacupuncture at PC6 and its success in preventing droperidol side effects may be due, in part, to acupuncture’s ability to regulate the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. In the experiment, PC6 was administered as a pretreatment prior to the injection of droperidol. The researchers added, “Pretreatment of P6 EA (PC6 electroacupuncture) significantly reduced QTc prolongation induced by droperidol, and this property may be related to the up-regulation of Cx43 mRNA and protein, which may contribute to the transmural heterogeneity of repolarization and abbreviate the prolonged QT intervals in droperidol treated hearts.” This experiment demonstrates that acupuncture is an effective non-pharmaceutical approach to avoiding adverse events caused by medication therapy. 

Excerpted from an article about another study on cardiac function and acupuncture, which can be read here. 

New research from the International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience shows that acupuncture controls the heart rate and increases the strength of cardiac autonomic function. This new research indicates that the use of specific acupuncture points may help to prevent heart attacks (myocardial infarctions) and arrhythmias.

Needling acupoint CV17 decreased the heart rate and increased the power of the high-frequency component of the HRV (heart rate variability), an index of the body’s ability to maintain control of the heart beat rate and rhythm through vagus nerve activity. The researchers conclude that CV17 “causes the modulation of cardiac autonomic function.”

HRV (heart rate variability) is the variance in time interval between heart beats. Reduced HRV is linked to mortality after myocardial infarction and a lowering of HRV is also linked to congestive heart failure, diabetic neuropathy, and low survival rates in premature babies. A reduction of HRV and its high-frequency component is common in patients with PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome) and for individuals with increased heart rates due to stress.

This new research shows that the application of acupuncture to CV17 increases the power of the high-frequency component of HRV and simultaneously is able to lower the heart rate. This research demonstrates that acupuncture at CV17 is able to activate the autonomic nervous system to control the heart rate by increasing vagal activity. Depressed HRV after MI, a heart attack, reflects a decrease in vagal activity and leads to cardiac electrical instability. Since acupuncture at CV17 increases the cardiac vagal component of HRV, it may be an important acupuncture point for patients recovering from MI.

We treat many patients for heart problems such as tachycardia, brachycardia, palpitations as well as those which are secondary to other issues such as panic attacks, PTSD, menopause, as well as other idiopathic causes. This research bears out our experience.

The Greatest Complementary/Alternative Therapy Breakthroughs of 2011

According to the Huffington Post, 2011 was a big year for complementary and alternative therapies. In an article dominated by slides, acupuncture won a prominent place because of study demonstrating the molecular effects of the therapy on chronic stress: 

In December, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center released a study showing how -- at a molecular level -- acupuncture can help reduce stress. The research, published in the journal, Experimental Biology and Medicine showed that in rats, acupuncture reduced levels of a peptide secreted by the system in our body during the whole flight-or-fight response. 

"It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit," the study's lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Georgetown's School of Nursing & Health Studies said in a statement.

In December, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center released a study showing how -- at a molecular level -- acupuncture can help reduce stress. The research, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine showed that in rats, acupuncture reduced levels of a peptide secreted by the system in our body during the whole flight-or-fight response. 
"It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit," the study's lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Georgetown's School of Nursing & Health Studies said in a statement.

Military Uses Acupuncturists to Treat Concussions

The Miami Herald reports that the American military in Afghanistan is using acupuncture to treat concussions suffered in by soldiers in battle with results that are, "off the charts", "helping heal soldiers with concussions so they can return more quickly to the front lines."

The US Military turns to Acupuncture to Help Our Soldiers

This article in the Statesman cites multiple ways in which the military is beginning to use the skills of acupuncturists. In my clinic we have been seeing veterans of both Gulf wars for many years now and have seen some truly amazing results in treating PTSD and its associated symptoms as well as physical pain. 

"... A combat medic, Bailes returned to Iraq for a second tour in 2005 and came home in 2006 with a different kind of pain: emotional anguish, nightmares and insomnia. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but antidepressants made him feel worse, he said. Again, he turned to acupuncture — and recovered, he said. Now he's studying the more than 2,000-year-old Chinese practice of using hair-thin needles for healing and planning to make it his life's work..."

"..."The military, in many respects, is kind of a front-runner" in using alternative treatments, said Alexandra York, a research associate in military medical research at the Samueli Institute in Alexandria, Va., which studies alternative therapies. "I think it's because of the complexity of the conditions they see. It almost demands that other options be examined..."

Acupuncture and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

From the Temple Daily Telegram comes and article on the Army's use of acupuncture to help treat PTSD in soldiers returning from service in the Gulf and Afghanistan:

"Soldiers returning from combat in the Middle East with post-traumatic stress disorder can opt for some alternative forms of treatment that include acupuncture."

This is something that we have been seeing a lot of in the last few years in my clinic. Happily, acupuncture has been very useful to help with this issue.