Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers to all diseases and conditions involving the heart and blood vessels. The main types of CVD in Australia are coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure/cardiomyopathy (1). One in six Australians are affected by cardiovascular disease, accounting for more than 4.2 million Australians (2). CVD prevalence increases with age, with 36% of Australians aged 55-64 reporting a long term CVD condition, increasing to 66% for Australians aged 75 and over. (2). However the good news is that the risk factors such as High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, weight and a sedentary lifestyle are almost all completely manageable.

Click here to view the current Cardiovascular tests used in Western Medicine 

Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine use in Heart Disease

Acupuncture is considered an ancient practice of TCM that began thousands of years ago. It has been reported to have potential effectiveness for treating cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, with few reported adverse effects (5, 6). We recommend the use of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine in heart disease starts at prevention and early stage. Our approach at Balanced Life Health Care is to working with you on reducing the risk factors such as;

• High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
• High Cholesterol
• Obesity
• High stress levels

Research into Acupuncture’s effect on Heart Disease Risk Factors and Heart Disease

In research terms Acupuncture has a potential positive effect on the following risk factors (3);

High Blood Pressure (hypertension)

• Wang (2013); Acupuncture plus medication super to sham plus medication (7)
• Li (2014) Acupuncture plus medication superior to medication (8)
• Shao (2015) Acupuncture plus medication superior to medication (9)

Obesity 

• Esteghamati (2015); Acupuncture superior to medication, sham and lifestyle modification (10)

In research terms it is currently unclear if Acupuncture has a positive effect on Heart Disease but we do have some promising studies (3);

Heart Failure (Heart failure happens when your heart muscle gets damaged, then becomes weak and doesn’t pump properly)

• Lee (2016); Acupuncture improved exercise capacity, quality of life, hemodynamic parameters, and time domain heart rate variability parameters (11)

Angina Pectoris (Angina is pain or discomfort that happens when your heart can’t get enough blood and oxygen)

References

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011. Cardiovascular disease: Australian facts 2011. Cardiovascular disease series. Cat. no. CVD 53. Canberra: AIHW
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Health Survey 2014/2015
3. John McDonald & Stephen Janz (2017); The Acupuncture evidence project, Found at; http://www.acupuncture.org.au/Portals/0/The%20Acupuncture%20Evidence%20Project_Mcdonald%20and%20Janz_Feb_2017_Reissued_April_2017.pdf?ver=2017-04-21-150632-950
4. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/heart-arrhythmias-and-palpitations
5. Xu X. Acupuncture in an outpatient clinic in China: a comparison with the use of acupuncture in North America. Southern Medical Journal. 2001;94(8):813–816. [PubMed]
6. Napadow V, Kaptchuk TJ. Patient characteristics for outpatient acupuncture in Beijing, China. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2004;10(3):565–572. [PubMed]
7. Wang J, Xiong X, Liu W. Acupuncture for essential hypertension. Int J Cardiol. 2013 Nov 20;169(5):317-26
8. Li DZ, Zhou Y, Yang YN, Ma YT, Li XM, Yu J, et al. Acupuncture for essential hypertension: a meta-analysis of randomized sham-controlled clinical trials. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:279478.
9. Zhao XF, Hu HT, Li JS, Shang HC, Zheng HZ, Niu JF, et al. Is Acupuncture Effective for Hypertension? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE. 2015;10(7):e0127019
10. Esteghamati A, Mazaheri T, Vahidi Rad M, Noshad S. Complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of obesity: a critical review. Int J Endocrinol Metab. 2015 Apr;13(2):e19678.
11. Xu L, Xu H, Gao W, Wang W, Zhang H, Lu DP. Treating angina pectoris by acupuncture therapy. Acupunct Electrother Res. 2013;38(1-2):17-35
12. Yu C, Ji K, Cao H, Wang Y, Jin HH, Zhang Z, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture for angina pectoris: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2015;15:90
13. Zhang Z, Bai R, Zhang L, Qi W, Wang Y, Li B, et al. [Acupuncture combined with Western medicine for angina of coronary artery disease: a systematic review]. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2015 Apr;35(4):407-11.