In modern China, the two medical systems of Western allopathic medicine and TCM are integrated and operate side by side. Many conventional allopathic doctors now recognize that a combination of Western therapy and TCM has shown better results in improving overall health in patients with cardiovascular conditions than have drugs or surgery alone. Use of TCM has led to a reduction in total mortality, an increase in the therapeutic effectiveness of drugs, and a decrease in severity of drug side effects, as well as an improvement in quality of life (as a result of smoking cessation, weight control, diet modification, exercise, etc).
Numerous studies have shown that TCM significantly helps patients with cardiac insufficiency, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, pericarditis, angina pectoris, tachycardia, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, and other circulatory conditions. One or more of the following changes have been reported: improved blood circulation, increased oxygen flow and intake, decreased edema and fluid accumulation in tissues, greater cardiac muscle strength, decreased myocardial hypertrophy or enlargement, decreased blockage in arteries, regulation of heart rhythm, lower serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and normal or near normal blood pressure. In holistic medicine and TCM, these effects are described differently: improved qi and blood flow; decrease in blood stasis and qi stagnation; decreased stagnation of cold in the chest; decreased phlegm, fluid, and damp accumulation; supplemented and nourished heart yin; strengthened heart qi; draining of heart fire; harmonized heart connections to other organs (not just anatomically speaking) such as kidneys, lung, pericardium, spleen, gallbladder, and small intestine; and reinforced and invigorated heart yang.
TCM has shown promise in surgical patients following coronary bypass, stent, or angioplasty by decreasing pain and promoting relaxation, thus allowing a faster recovery. Additionally, TCM can help relieve many of the adverse effects of cardiovascular drugs. The adverse effects from drugs most commonly seen in our clinic are fatigue, lowered libido, drowsiness, muscle weakness and numbness, liver damage from cholesterol/lipid-lowering drugs, nutritional disturbance and general asthenia from diuretics, headache, dizziness, constipation from calcium channel blockers, rash, gastrointestinal disturbances, and insomnia from antiarrhythmic drugs. Switching drugs may or may not stop these effects. However, adverse effects can become an everyday nuisance to patients, which ultimately decreases compliance to pharmacotherapy.
talk about the cardiovascular disease
