5 Steps to a Healthy Heart with Acupuncture
February is the American Heart Association's Heart Health Awareness
Month, emphasizing the dangers of heart disease and the
importance of heart health.
Heart disease includes conditions affecting the heart, such
as coronary heart disease, heart attacks, congestive heart
failure, and congenital heart disease. Despite dramatic
medical advances over the past fifty years, heart disease
remains a leading cause of death globally and the number one
cause of death in the United States. By integrating
acupuncture and Oriental medicine into your heart healthy
lifestyle, you can dramatically reduce your risk of heart
disease.
Taking small steps to improve your health can reduce your
risk for heart disease by as much as eighty percent. Steps
to prevention include managing high blood pressure, quitting
smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress and
improved sleep - all of which can be helped with
acupuncture.
1. Manage High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure makes the heart work harder, increasing
its oxygen demands and contributing to angina. This
excessive pressure can lead to an enlarged heart
(cardiomegaly), as well as damage to blood vessels in the
kidneys and brain. It increases the risk of heart attacks,
stroke and kidney disease.
Acupuncture has been found to be particularly helpful in
lowering blood pressure. By applying acupuncture needles at
specific sites along the wrist, inside the forearm or in the
leg, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative
Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, were able
to stimulate the release of opioids, which decreases the
heart’s activity and thus its need for oxygen. This, in
turn, lowers blood pressure.
2. Quit Smoking
Most people associate cigarette smoking with breathing
problems and lung cancer. But did you know that smoking is
also a major cause of coronary artery disease? In fact,
about twenty percent of all deaths from heart disease are
directly related to cigarette smoking.
Acupuncture has shown to be an effective treatment for
smoking. Acupuncture treatments for smoking cessation focus
on jitters, cravings, irritability, and restlessness;
symptoms that people commonly complain about when they quit.
It also aids in relaxation and detoxification.
3. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Obesity is associated with diabetes, high blood pressure and
coronary artery disease, all of which increase the risk of
developing heart disease, but studies have shown that excess
body weight itself (and not just the associated medical
conditions) can also lead to heart failure. Even if you are
entirely healthy otherwise, being overweight still places
you at a greater risk of developing heart failure.
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine are an excellent
adjunctive tool when it comes to losing weight. They can
help to energize the body, maximize the absorption of
nutrients, regulate elimination, control overeating,
suppress the appetite, and reduce anxiety.
4. Reduce Stress
Stress is a normal part of life. But if left unmanaged,
stress can lead to emotional, psychological, and even
physical problems, including heart disease, high blood
pressure, chest pains, or irregular heart beats. Medical
researchers aren't sure exactly how stress increases the
risk of heart disease. Stress itself might be a risk factor,
or it could be that high levels of stress make other risk
factors worse. For example, if you are under stress, your
blood pressure goes up, you may overeat, you may exercise
less, and you may be more likely to smoke.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the substantial benefits
of acupuncture in the treatment of stress, anxiety and
mental health. In addition to acupuncture, Oriental medicine
offers a whole gamut of tools and techniques that can be
integrated into your life to keep stress in check. These
tools include Tui Na, Qi Gong exercises, herbal medicine,
dietary therapy, meditations and acupressure that you can
administer at home.
5. Improve Sleep
Poor sleep has been linked with high blood pressure,
atherosclerosis, heart failure, heart attacks, stroke,
diabetes, and obesity. Researchers have shown that getting
at least eight hours of sleep is needed for good heart
health and getting less than eight hours of sleep can put
you at a greater risk for developing heart disease.
Acupuncture has shown great success treating a wide array of
sleep problems without any of the side effects of
prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids. The acupuncture
treatments for problems sleeping focus on the root
disharmony within the body that is causing the insomnia.
Therefore, those who use acupuncture for insomnia achieve
not only better sleep, but also an overall improvement of
physical and mental health.
Come in for a consultation during Heart Health Awareness
Month to see how acupuncture and Oriental medicine can
assist you with your heart health and help you to live a
long, healthy life.
Study Shows Acupuncture Significantly Lowers Blood
Pressure
A German study published in the journal, Circulation, found
that acupuncture significantly lowers both systolic and
diastolic blood pressure. The extent of the blood pressure
reductions by acupuncture treatments was comparable to those
seen with antihypertensive medication or aggressive
lifestyle changes, including radical salt restrictions.
For the study, 160 outpatients with uncomplicated, mild to
moderate hypertension were randomized to six weeks of
acupuncture performed by Oriental medicine practitioners or
to a sham procedure. Patients underwent 22 sessions, each 30
minutes in length. By the end of the six weeks, 24 hour
ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressures were
significantly reduced from baseline in the acupuncture
treated patients (5.4 mm Hg and 3.0 mm Hg, respectively). No
significant changes were seen in the sham acupuncture group.
After six months the blood pressure reductions disappeared,
leading investigators to conclude that ongoing acupuncture
treatments would be required to maintain the blood pressure
reductions.
Source: Circulation, June 2007
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In This Issue
·
5 Steps to a Healthy Heart with Acupuncture
·
Study Shows Acupuncture Significantly Lowers Blood
Pressure
·
Heart Healthy Foods
Heart Healthy Foods
Here are some suggestions to support your heart healthy lifestyle.
Green Tea
Green tea contains several powerful antioxidants that reduce
bad cholesterol and boost good cholesterol, improving an
individuals overall cholesterol profile. Drinking green tea
also seems to enhance cardiovascular health by improving the
consistency of platelets in the blood and may even lower
blood pressure.
Garlic
Just one clove a day--or 300 mg, three times daily--reduces
the risk of a heart attack at least three ways: It
discourages red blood cells from sticking together and
blocking your arteries, it reduces arterial damage, and it
discourages cholesterol from lining the arteries and making
them so narrow that blockages are likely.
Fruit
Oranges contain folic acid that helps lower your levels of
homocysteine, a heart attack risk factor. Grapes are loaded
with flavonoids and resveratrol, both potent antioxidants
that may discourage red blood cells from clumping together
and forming an artery-blocking clot. Pomegranate juice is
chock-full of potassium and polyphenols, which promote heart
health and have been shown to help lower cholesterol
Vegetables
Make sure that cruciferous vegetables such as kale, Brussels
sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage, which are a gold mine of
antioxidants and other heart-saving phytochemicals, are part
of your heart health diet every day.
Fish
Fatty fish such as salmon and anchovies are foods loaded
with the omega-3 fatty acids that will help your heart
maintain a steady rhythm. Having even one fish serving a
week could reduce your risk of death from a heart attack by
fifty two percent.
Flaxseed
Flaxseed is one of the most potent sources of heart
health-promoting omega-3 fats. Studies indicate that adding
flaxseed to your diet can reduce the development of heart
disease by forty six percent while helping keep red blood
cells from clumping together and forming clots that can
block arteries. Sprinkle 2 Tbs flaxseed a day on your cereal
or salad.
Nuts
Studies have found that those who eat more than 5 oz of nuts
a week are one-third less likely to have either heart
disease or a heart attack. Just don't overdo it--nuts can
pile on the pounds.
Red Wine
Scientific studies overwhelmingly show that a daily glass of
wine can reduce your risk of a heart attack. Both plant
compounds called saponins and antioxidants in the "fruit of
the vine" work to protect arteries. Researchers have found
that red is much more effective than white for improving
heart health. |
